The Dark Mark
by Cali Nikson
Summary: After escaping from Azkaban during the 1996 mass breakout, Quinn and Rachel try to find a way to hide in peace. The mark on Quinn's arm will make that damn near impossible. AU. Harry Potter crossover. Animagus-Lion!Quinn. Animagus-Kitty!Rachel.
1. Chapter 1

**Do not own Glee. Do not own Harry Potter. Do not own the idea of lion!Quinn and kitty!Rachel. **

**Summary: Quinn and Rachel meet as prisoners in Azkaban three days before the 1996 mass escape. **

**A/N: I'm back and much sooner than I expected I would be. This is one of the stories I said I was thinking of at the end of Eternal Sunshine, and this is the only one that's pretty much entirely outlined. Though it is subject to change. The title is also subject to change, it's just too late/early to think of a clever one. I know that the summary is pretty vague, but I feel like if I give you any more information, the element of surprise for some upcoming events will be lost. So, sorry, but that one lined summary is all you're getting. But, I will tell you this: the setting of Azkaban is only in this chapter (So far. Remember: subject to change). The rest of the story is told with them as fugitives. **

**I was really worried about posting this story because I don't know how it'll be embraced. Hoping for the best. This was originally going to be a Hermione/Ginny story long ago. . . but I write for Faberry now. But that doesn't mean that Hermione/Ginny won't be in it ;)**

**Still hoping for the best. Let me know if I should continue. **

**Read. Ponder. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p><strong>January 1996<strong>

**Three days before the mass breakout:**

Quinn shut her eyes and listened to the _laughter _that rang out from numerous cells on her block of the Azkaban prison. She didn't think she'd ever hear the sound again, especially not here where happiness couldn't even be achieved in their greatest imaginations. She let out a weak cry of agony at the burn on the inside of her forearm. She looked down at the mark that marred her skin; it _slithered_ there, taunting her, and she tried desperately to ignore the calling that had the prisoners rejoicing for the first time in years. She heard _his _voice all day, all night, in her fucking nightmares because dreams were a thing of the past, telling her and everyone that could hear him that _the time has come. Rejoice. Join us in the fight for purity. _The thought of biting off her arm crossed her mind and not for the first time. Tonight, the pain was near unbearable and the only thing that could numb it down just a little bit was to close her eyes and let her body change.

She all but collapsed to the floor, her body now that of a sickly thin lioness. Being an _unregistered _animagus had come in quite handy in regards of keeping at least a little bit of her sanity. The Dementors had a difficult time discerning the emotions of animals, but if anyone were to ask her, she wouldn't hesitate in telling them, yes, she _is _a bit crazy. Living in an endless fog of depression and despair tended to make most people insane, lion or not.

The fur also kept her warm at night.

Quinn shifted her large head so that it rested on her paws. She licked at the Dark Mark on the inside of her arm, now completely covered by a fine layer of fur. Even though the pain was number, it wasn't by much. It dulled down with every pass of her tongue before flaring up to its normal intensity. Eventually, she tired of licking (it doesn't take much anymore, she tires of just _breathing _now and days) and she closed her eyes, praying that some Goddess will show her mercy and allow her some sleep until the pain died down. But it kept her up, like it did every night, and she couldn't help the pitiful whine that escaped her throat.

_Meow._

Quinn snapped her eyes open and looked over at the steel bars of her cell. A small brown cat, almost black in the dim light of the prison, sat and stared at her from the other side, and Quinn could immediately tell that that was no cat. Its dark eyes were far too emotional, far too inquisitive for it to be just a regular feline. It was a human and a sudden fear spiked through Quinn's heart. She quickly changed with a gasp and scooted back until she hit the far wall of her cell. It would mean a fate worse than death if the Aurors were to find out about her ability and if that was who this cat was, then the Dementor's Kiss was what she had to look forward to. Merlin, she'd rather die. She brought her marked arm weakly to her chest and pulled her knees up as she waited.

The cat just watched her. After a few tense moments, it stood up and was skinny enough to squeeze between the bars of her cell. It sat down and stared at Quinn, its head tilted to the side in curiosity. When it seemed like it wasn't going to call for the Dementors, Quinn allowed her body to relax briefly before a fresh bout of pain scorched through her arm once again. She cried out softy and fell sideways to the ground, curling into a ball around her burning arm. Her eyes fell shut, tears leaked from behind the closed lids and she gritted her teeth as the pain moved through her body and in the distance, past the rushing blood in her ears, she could hear the happy shouts ringing all throughout the block.

When it finally lessened to just a simmering, throbbing burn, her body sagged in exhaustion and her chest heaved as she tried to gather her breath. She opened her eyes weakly and let her arm fall away from her chest. The snake of the Dark Mark was a little further out of the mouth of the skull and it wiggled like it drew breath. It's about to happen. Whatever it is, it's going to be huge. With the last bit of energy that she had, she morphed again to numb the pain once more. She shifted her eyes to the cat that she almost forgot was there. It was staring at her fur covered arm before shifting its dark eyes to her own. There was a fright that settled in them, along with another emotion that Quinn could easily discern as sadness. It was a look that she saw in every prisoner's eyes that walked by the cell; she has grown_ very _accustomed to it. The eyes fell to Quinn's arm again before the cat stood up weakly and walked back out of her cell, casting the lion on more fleeting glance before walking away. Quinn closed her eyes.

A longing whine tumbled from her lips.

* * *

><p><strong>Two days before the mass breakout:<strong>

Quinn was curled up in the corner of her cell, nearly delirious from the lack of sleep, the constant depression and the burning pain in her arm. She weakly licked at the mark only once before her head thudded to the floor in exhaustion. The prisoners were cheering again, louder than any other night.

Merlin, she just wanted to go to sleep.

_Meow. _

Quinn slowly trailed her eyes over to the cat that stood just on the inside of her cell. Her body tensed and twitched at the rolling waves of pain, more whining erupting from her mouth and she shut her eyes, feeling her body finally beginning to shut down. The soft tapping of paws approached her and she tiredly forced her eyes open in time to see the cat lie down next to her head. From this close up, she could see the cats ribs clearly outlined in the dark fur. She had just enough time to feel confused before her body could no longer take it and she dropped off into an exhausted sleep.

When she woke up in the morning she was alone and the pain started up once again.

* * *

><p><strong>One day before the mass breakout:<strong>

Soon.

It was going to happen very soon. The pain was at its worst tonight; she didn't even have the energy to change. She shivered in the striped, torn outfit that provided little warmth to her body. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arm around them to keep out the freezing cold weather. It must've been snowing outside. Her left arm dangled uselessly by her side, twitching at the pain that continuously spiked through it. If only she had the energy to bite it off like she wanted to.

_Meow._

Quinn rolled her head back until it thudded against the wall and looked at the cat that sat in the middle of her cell. The pain seemed to lessen as she swallowed against the dryness of her throat, trying to remember how to work her voice.

"Hello again," she croaked out quietly. The cat blinked at her before it walked forward and morphed before her until a brunette woman in the same torn striped pajamas was leaning against the wall next to her. The woman brought her knees to her chest. Dark brown eyes met amazed hazel ones. The woman looked nothing but tired and gaunt.

"Hello," she whispered, tucking a strand of hair nervously behind her ear.

There was a lull in the conversation as they both tried to get used to being in the company of another person after so long. Quinn licked her dry lips, wincing again at the pain.

"What's your name?"

The woman wouldn't take her eyes off of her. "Rachel."

"Rachel," Quinn whispered, testing the name out on her lips. She cleared her throat. "I'm Quinn."

Rachel nodded, shifting around shyly. "It's, uh, n-nice to meet you."

If she could, Quinn would've smiled and laughed. Instead, she stayed quiet and they sat there in silence, listening to the other prisoners on their block. After a minute, an hour, a day, who knew, Quinn cleared her throat again and closed her eyes.

"You could leave," she said quietly, shifting so that her body was being propped up by the neighboring wall. "Sirius Black did it. Why do you stay here?"

Rachel stared at her, her eyes expressionless.

"I don't have anywhere else to go," she told her and shrugged her shroulders. "There's no one waiting for me out there."

Quinn scoffed. "And there's someone for you _here_?"

When Rachel didn't answer, Quinn opened her eyes and looked over at her. The brunette's eyes were trained on her arm and Quinn dropped her eyes to the perfectly untainted left forearm that lied next to her. Reflexively, she brought her own arm up to hide the mark against her chest, breaking Rachel out of her trance. Brown eyes searched her face, but Quinn refused to meet them.

"You don't . . . celebrate like the rest of them."

Quinn shook her head as another bout of pain rolled through her and she fell sideways to the ground with a groan.

"What's there to cheer about?" she grumbled, curling into the fetal position on the cold stone floor.

The conversation ended after that as Quinn finally gathered the energy to change. She was just about to drop off to a fitful sleep when she felt something burrow under her arm and lick the concealed mark. The pain nearly disappeared and was gone for a few glorious seconds before it came back. She opened her eyes weakly to see Rachel, her small cat body using Quinn's arm as a sort of blanket, cuddling into her.

For the first time in years, she slept an easy dreamless night.

When she woke up this time, she wasn't alone. Back in their human forms, Quinn and Rachel laid facing each other, their legs a tangled mess. Quinn's arm was draped around Rachel's waist and the brunette, still asleep, had her shirt clutched tightly in her fist. Quinn lifted her hand up and, as softly as her calloused hand could, caressed the brunette's cheek.

"Rachel," she whispered.

Rachel shifted and reached up to grab Quinn's hand as her eyes popped open. After a moment of confusion, the brown eyes bored into her with something akin to wonder. Her own hand lifted up to caress Quinn's cheek and she opened her mouth to speak before a sickening wave of despair washed over them. They both let out soft groans, immediately curling into each other, before Rachel's eyes widened in panic.

"Shit," she cursed before disentangling herself from Quinn, quickly changing into a cat and rushing out of the cell.

Quinn watched her leave with a look of devastation and she crawled to the steel bars in time to see Rachel slip into her own cell just as the Dementors turned down their block. She leaned her forehead against the bars as the tears leaked out of her eyes and the pain returned to her arm with a bloody vengeance.

"Come back," she whimpered out before she collapsed to the floor as her body shook from the pain.

* * *

><p><strong>The day of the mass breakout:<strong>

Quinn woke up in the middle of the night from the combination of the burning pain in her arm and the massive cheers ringing along her block. There was a clanging sound coming from the door of the cell before it cracked open. She sat up and got shakily to her feet, using the wall as a support to keep her body upright. It could be a trap. Some sort of malfunction. But when a couple of prisoners walked by her cell with _smiles _on their faces, she knew that it wasn't a mistake. The Dark Lord was calling his followers. With shaky steps, she stepped forward and slowly pushed her door open. A few prisoners walked by her as she leaned weakly against her cell and one of them reached out and grabbed her arm, lifting up her sleeve. At the sight of the Dark Mark, he nodded his head in approval and walked past her with a friendly pat on her shoulder. She watched them walk out of the door, the Dementors that guarded it not even giving them a second glance. When the block emptied out, she walked a few cells over, ignoring the pleas coming from the other prisoners.

She stopped in front of Rachel's cell. The brunette was huddled in the corner and when she looked over at her, Quinn frowned at the tears that were trailing down her face. Quinn stepped forward, gripping the steel bars tightly in her hands.

"Come with me," she whispered, her eyes pleading. "Please, come with me."

Rachel reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, sniffling as her eyes searched the hazel ones staring back at her. With a deep breath, she began to crawl towards Quinn, morphing so she could slip though the bars. Quinn bent down and scooped Rachel up in her arms, feeling the bones beneath her skin. She walked over toward the door that the other prisoners went through and walked out, breathing a sigh of relief when the Dementors made no move to stop them.

The rest of the Death Eaters were waiting on the shore with a few boats bobbing in the water for them. She kept her sleeve rolled up as she climbed into the only open space on the last boat, keeping Rachel close to her chest as she shivered in the freezing weather. The boat pushed off shore and she could feel the influence of the Dementors _finally _begin to leave her after so many years. She almost laughed; instead, she hugged Rachel to her body, feeling her purr against her.

"Hey," the man sitting next to Quinn nudged her and she looked at him. "You're Fabray's kid, ain't ya?"

Quinn swallowed before giving his a strained nod. He smirked at her and chuckled. He leaned forward to whisper to her, his rancid breath making her wince.

"No one liked him anyway."

Quinn turned her eyes to the expanse of the sea and just nodded again, petting Rachel on the head as the man turned back to the happy conversation with the other passengers.

When they arrived on shore, a couple of robed Death Eaters were waiting for them. The passengers of the other two boats that got there before them were already apparating away with the wands that the Death Eaters provided them with. She turned to the man that had talked to her earlier.

"Where'd they get those wands?"

The man snickered and shrugged. "Probably off of some dead Mudbloods. Come on, before all the good ones are taken."

Quinn nodded and let them run ahead of her. She took a few steps back and when she was at the edge of the woods, she turned around and hurried away. She stumbled in the darkness that surrounded her, tripping over the uneven ground. The blistering cold felt magnificent against the burn in her arm. It felt wonderfully weird to be away from Azkaban, to be away from the Dementors.

To be free.

She followed her ears to the rushing water in the distance and eventually she came across a small creek. She set Rachel gently down on the ground and dropped to her knees in front of the running water. She cupped her hands and held it under the freezing, clear liquid, bringing it up to her lips and drinking it down, letting it sooth her incredibly dry throat. _Merlin, _it was fantastic. She hasn't tasted anything better than this in years.

She looked over when Rachel kneeled down next to her and mirrored her actions, taking a drink with a soft moan. Quinn couldn't take her eyes off of her, the water seeping between her fingers unnoticed. Rachel was . . . _beautiful. _Even when her face was dirty and her clothes were torn, she glowed in the moonlight like a Goddess.

Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.

Rachel opened her eyes and they immediately sought out Quinn's. She dropped her cupped hands as she observed the angelic blonde that saved her from that dreadful prison of insanity. Their hearts that were void of any happiness for _ages_ were now thumping wildly in their chests. Quinn's lips lifted up into a smile that strained her cheeks. She wondered if she looked like a fool; it had been so long since she had smiled she felt like she'd forgotten how to do it.

But when Rachel smiled brightly back at her and actually giggled, she couldn't find it in herself to care. The giggles turned to chuckles before they were both lying on the ground laughing harder than they had in years.

When the laughter died down they found themselves lying together staring at the stars, Rachel's head on Quinn's shoulder, their arms wrapped around each other to provide some warmth and their legs tangled. Rachel gripped Quinn's hip.

"Where do we go now?"

Quinn sighed and closed her eyes, wincing softly at the throbbing pain in her arm as she hugged Rachel closer.

"Somewhere far away from here."

When she felt Rachel shiver against her, she untangled their legs and let her body change, the fur keeping her warm in the winter weather. She looked at Rachel who smiled at her and ran her fingers through the soft, short hair on her head, scratching behind her ears. She giggled at the rumbling purr coming from her lion companion before changing herself and burrowing under Quinn's large, muscular arms. She gave a small lick to the inside of Quinn's left forearm where she knew the mark was burning before closing her eyes and falling asleep almost immediately.

Quinn looked down at the slumbering cat and leaned their incredibly different sized heads together before allowing herself to drift off to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I love the Lion!Quinn and Kitty!Rachel idea. Having them be animagus' just made the most sense to me. Because Harry Potter is logical fucking fact. Obviously. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sweet. You guys seem to like it. Thus I shall continue. **

**I swear to God, if I see another story about On My Way, I will build a fucking time machine and turn time forward to April whateverthefuck just so everyone can have something else to write about. Not that they're all bad or anything, but I'm sure I speak for most people when I say that that shit is getting really depressing.**

**It's late/early again. Read Ponder. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>Once Quinn figured out exactly where they were, there was no question about where they would go. She had one constant friend in her entire life and Sam Evans was the only person she knew who would take them in without hesitation. Hoping the he hadn't moved in the eight years that she had been imprisoned, his home was about fifty miles from where they were, give or take. But what would originally be a couple days of travel at most, given their current weakened conditions it would now probably take a few more.<p>

They followed the creek, traveling as animals because they didn't know what wizards, Death Eater or otherwise, were traveling in the woods and the cold was, at times, very brutal. Their steps were slow and deliberate, and they needed to stop every so often to drink from the creek, the only source of energy they had access to. When they came across a small lake of water that the creek spilled into, Rachel immediately changed and began to strip. Quinn sat down on the ground and couldn't help but watch her, thinking, not for the first time, that her companion was absolutely beautiful.

Naked and shivering, Rachel walked into the water. She glanced at Quinn over her shoulder with a smile before ducking under the water and resurfacing, slicking her hair back. Rach looked back over at Quinn and beckoned her with a curl of her fingers, giggling when the lion's tail thumped against the ground. The blonde changed and took off the torn rags that covered her body. She stepped into the freezing water that came up to just under her breasts, sighing contentedly when it covered the burning mark on her arm. She submerged herself completely, reveling in the feel of cleanliness after being forced to sulk in her own filth for so long. When she came back up, Rachel had her back to her and was rubbing away the dirt and grime from her body and face.

She was humming.

Quinn paused in her own soapless bathing to watch Rachel, beyond captivated by the sound coming from the short brunette. It matched her physical beauty note for note and she was drawn to it like the calling of a siren. She wanted to hear more; she wanted to fall asleep and wake up to it every day. Rachel looked over at her, water dripping down her now clean face and grinned.

"You're staring."

Quinn, thankful that the water was so cold that Rachel couldn't see just how much she blushed just then, smiled shyly at her and looked away.

"I'm sorry, it's just," she said quietly, crossing her arms insecurely across her chest and effectively hiding the Dark Mark, "you're kind of gorgeous."

Rachel giggled, a sound that was quickly becoming one of Quinn's favorites, and waded over until she stood in front of her. She reached up and pulled the blonde's arms away from her body until they fell to her sides. Her finger's trailed down Quinn's arms, danced softly over the mark that was warm even under the cold water before interlacing their fingers together.

"You're _kind of _gorgeous, too."

Quinn was smitten, especially when Rachel lost a little bit of her bravado and ducked her head, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. After a split second of consideration, she finally gave her body permission to do what it desired; something she was forced to restrain all her life. She reached up out of the water and tilted Rachel's chin up to give her a soft, closed mouth, almost chaste kiss. She pulled away, searching the brunette's face for any sign that she jumped the gun or crossed the line, but the wonder in the brown orbs gave her hope. Then Rachel bit her lip in an attempt to stem the large smile that wanted to blossom on her face and let go of her hand to pull their bodies together in a gentle hug. Quinn gasped at the feeling of wonderful naked skin that pressed against her own before relaxing and wrapping her arms around Rachel's shoulders.

This was . . . really nice. The water sparkled around them every time the sun peeked out from between the clouds. Quinn could feel their hearts pounding against each other and such foreign content, good, _happy _feelings were surging through them. And it wasn't just lust, though that was very much there. Whatever it was, it ran deeper than that. Her arms squeezed tighter at the barely there kiss to her neck. Yes.

It ran _miles _deeper than that.

And for someone she hardly knew.

"Tell me something about yourself, Rachel," she whispered.

Rachel hummed against her collarbone in contemplation and smiled. "I'm an Empath. Only when people sing, but still."

"Really?" Quinn smiled, rubbing her hands over Rachel's freezing back. "That's really cool."

"Thank you," the brunette said softly, squeezing her harder around the waist. "Your turn."

Quinn was quiet for a moment as she laid her cheek on top of Rachel's head.

"I'm a Legilimen and an Occlumen."

Rachel pulled away to look at her face, surprised and impressed.

"That's very advanced."

Quinn looked away and nodded, but didn't elaborate. Rachel observed her for a moment, taking note of how she closed herself off and hoping that maybe one day she'll explain a little further. But today she didn't push and tucked her head back under Quinn's chin, content to just let Quinn have her secrets.

When Rachel began to shiver in her arms, Quinn led them back over to their clothes and they slipped them over their wet bodies before changing. They walked over to the lining of trees and Quinn lied down, letting a still shivering Rachel burrow into her. She curled around the small cat and waited for her to stop shaking before they stood up and began their slow journey once more. They didn't stop until late at night when Quinn all but collapsed to the floor and Rachel had already drifted off into unconsciousness, riding on the lion's back.

* * *

><p>Traveling was hard. They tried to follow the creek for as long as they could, but eventually it began to turn in the opposite direction of their destination. With a heavy heart, Quinn began to lead them away from what could possibly be their only lifeline until they made it to Sam's. <em>If <em>they made it to Sam's. Come the third day, Rachel could only walk a couple of miles before she didn't have the energy anymore. Quinn carried the small cat on her back as she slowly and stiltedly continued their trek. Her arm was burning like a hot brand was permanently being pressed to her skin. It would only burn more the longer she chose to ignore the Dark Lord's calling. She was becoming delirious. She had to force Rachel to eat some of the only edible berries that they came across, but it wasn't enough to get her to travel beside her again. She'd stop every once in a while to nudge Rachel's head with her own, always worried about a lack of response, but even though it grew weaker, the cat nudged back every time.

That night, the pain was beyond brutal. She limped forward, her sight blurry, her eye lids heavy, until a scalding bout of pain shot through her and she fell to the floor. Rachel rolled off her back roughly and changed with a weak groan. She looked over at Quinn and her heart broke to see the blonde, human again, curled into the fetal position around her arm and shaking. She crawled over to her.

"Quinn," she whispered. She reached her head and brushed the golden strands away from her face to see the tears coursing down her cheeks. "Oh, _Quinn_."

Quinn merely whimpered in response, burrowing her head in Rachel's lap. She wanted to speak to her. Tell her how much it _hurt, _how she wished for it to just fucking stop. Please, just have mercy. Rachel seemed to understand as she ran her fingers through her hair soothingly. Then she started humming again and, maybe it was just in her head, but the pain seemed to dissipate a little bit. She opened her eyes that were clenched shut in pain and looked up at the woman who literally held her while she cried. Rachel smiled at her and wiped the tears from her face before leaning down and giving her a small kiss to her lips. They leaned their foreheads together as Quinn tried to catch her breath again, her body limp with exhaustion.

After a while, Rachel began to shiver so much that she shook both of their bodies. Quinn tugged on her hand.

"Ch-change, Rachel," she told her quietly. Rachel shook her head, her teeth chattering.

"Wh-wh-what about y-you?"

Quinn closed her eyes and, with much difficulty, forced her body to change. She about passed out after the transformation, but just before the world disappeared, she felt the small cat cuddle into her body.

* * *

><p>When Quinn woke the next morning, her heart pounded in her chest when she discovered she was alone. She felt the panic begin to build and choke her and she whipped her head around in search for Rachel. She let out a small whine, standing up with her ears in alert. It had snowed during the night, which felt great on her arm, and her eyes zeroed in on Rachel's small paw prints. A child's laughter caught her attention and she looked up. She crept toward a thick of trees following the paw prints, peeked around a large bush and immediately felt a wave of relief wash over her. She sat down and watched as a small young, giggling girl softly pet Rachel on the head. From where she was, she could clearly hear Rachel purr even if it sounded a bit weak. Her eyes shifted to the man that stood just a little bit behind the girl with a fond smile on his face and a picnic basket by his feet, and she instantly straightened at the sight of the wand sticking out of his jacket pocket.<p>

The man looked up at her and his eyes widened fearfully, his hand falling to his wand. Quinn growled out a warning the made him stop and caught the attention of both the little girl and Rachel. The girl smiled excitedly and raised her hands toward Quinn.

"Look, Daddy! Lion!" she squealed and when she made as if to approach the large feline, the man grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Lilah, _no," _he whispered, keeping an eye on the lion.

Rachel sat up and looked over at Quinn whose back was rigid straight and her eyes were hard and protective. She walked slowly over to Quinn and brushed against the golden brown fur purring. Quinn looked down at her and relaxed as she bent her head down to knock their heads together. Rachel licked her muzzle and she could almost see the lion smile. The little girl began to pull away from her father.

"Daddy, they nice," Lilah whined as she pulled against her father's hold.

The dad looked at them curiously, still keeping a firm hold on his daughter's arm. He observed their extremely skinny bodies and wondered when was the last time he had ever even heard of a lion and a cat traveling together, let alone in Britain. He looked around them before leaning forward.

"You're witches?" he whispered. Quinn snapped her eyes to him and, after a moment, nodded her head. He sighed and let go of Lilah's arm to gently place his hand on her shoulder. "I know that the times are a lot darker than the Daily Prophet would have us believe. And I know that some people have had to go into hiding just to be safe lately."

He looked down and cleared his throat. He took out his wand and waved it over the picnic basket at his feet. It duplicated and he picked it up to place it in the middle of them. He pocketed his wand again and stepped back.

"It's just a few sandwiches and a replenishing water canteen. It's not a lot, but it's all that I can offer right now," he said quietly with a small understanding smile. "I hope you both safely find your way."

Rachel's heart swelled at the gesture from this complete stranger and she trotted forward to let him pet her. The little girl giggled and scratched behind Rachel's ears before looking hopefully up at Quinn. Rachel swished her tail and walked back over to Quinn. She got up on her hind legs and tugged at Quinn's ear, earning her a soft growl from the lion. Quinn shook her head to get Rachel to let go of her ear, but she followed her forward and allowed the happy little girl to pet her. Lilah giggled when Quinn purred deep in her throat. Her father smiled at them before pulling his daughter away and she waved at them jovially as they left. Quinn and Rachel watched them apparate away before Quinn grabbed the basket handle in her mouth and they walked back over to when they had fallen asleep. They changed back and sat together as they split one of the sandwiches and drank from the canteen that never ended. They wanted to eat more, but there were only three sandwiches in the basket and they needed to ration.

It was enough for them to continue their journey for another day.

* * *

><p>The sandwiches only lasted them that day and half of the next before the only thing they had to keep them moving was the water. Finally, after six days of traveling in the winter cold, they made it to Sam's house. He lived in a cottage that his parents used to own and his closest neighbor was about a mile away. She stopped just before the clearing of his yard, looking for any movement in the windows. She nudged Rachel's head with her muzzle to wake her up and the cat slid off of her back into the snow, her hopeful eyes staring at their possible salvation. Quinn stepped forward from the trees when a blonde man walked out of the back door. When he caught sight of the lion and cat at the edge of his yard, the ax over his shoulder fell to the ground.<p>

"Quinn?" he whispered and began to walk forward. Quinn ran towards him, changing half way and dropping the basket to the ground so she could grab Sam in tight hug. Sam squeezed her back, mindful of the fact that he could feel her bones under her skin, and closed his eyes. "Merlin, Quinn, I thought I'd never see you again."

Quinn let out a relieved laugh and pulled back to look at her friend with tears in her eyes. He looked the same, maybe just a bit older and mature. It felt so good to see him again, to feel a familiarity of an old friendship that had eluded her since she was arrested. Sam brushed the hair from her eyes before looking over her shoulder and furrowing his eyebrows. Quinn looked behind her and smiled at a shy Rachel that walked up to them. She grabbed her hand and pulled her forward until they stood next to each other.

"This is Rachel," she introduced quietly and Sam smiled at her and held out his hand.

"I'm Sam," he greeted kindly and let his eyes trail over what they were wearing, frowning at the torn rags that covered their body and paper thin slippers that covered their feet. He motioned for them to follow him. "Come on, before you guys freeze."

Sam and his wife, Anna, who was surprisingly very nonchalant about their appearance despite the obvious prison garb that they wore, fed them with warm food until they felt like they were going to burst and asked no other questions other than how they were feeling. They let them borrow some pajamas and showed them to the guest bedroom and bathroom before giving them some privacy to freshen up.

Rachel and Quinn didn't even discuss it before hopping in the shower together, turning the hot water up until the steam completely filled the bathroom. They cleaned themselves with extra soap and washed their hair twice before they finally felt like they were sufficiently clean. Quinn held Rachel from behind as they stood under the spray, soaking up all the hot water they could until the brunette began to fall asleep in her embrace. She reached over to turn off the water and helped Rachel out of the shower. After getting dressed they walked over to the sink and brushed their teeth incredibly thoroughly, sharing their first fresh kiss when they rinsed out their mouth.

Quinn led Rachel to the bed and laid her down, spooning her from behind until the brunette fell asleep. She laid there restlessly and in pain for only a half an hour before she stood up and kissed Rachel on the forehead. She slipped out of the bed and, with one last glance at Rachel, left the bedroom. She crept to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway when she found Anna washing dishes manually at the sink. The brunette woman turned around to look at her, her blue eyes kind as she smiled at her.

"Hello, Quinn," she greeted and turned off the sink, throwing the hand towel on the counter. "Do you need anything? Water? Tea?"

"Um, water is fine, thank you," she said quietly taking a seat at the table. She watched Anna move, not at all worried about the fugitive with the Dark Mark on her arm that was sitting at her dining room table. When she set the glass of water down and sat in the chair across from her, Quinn cleared her throat. "I guess Sam told you about me."

Anna smiled and nodded, crossing her legs and taking a sip of the tea she had already made for herself. "He told me enough for me to believe that you were justified."

Quinn looked away, tracing her finger around the lip of her glass. She was right. In her head, she was _completely _justified in her crime. She nodded her head, wincing at the throbbing burn on her arm.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Anna frowned at the pained expression on Quinn's face before standing up and opening one of the drawers and pulling out some first aid bandage tape. She held out her hand for Quinn's arm, which she gave her a little hesitantly. As Anna was wrapping the tape over the Dark Mark, Sam walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes tiredly. He smiled at them and sat down at the table, conjuring up another glass of water with his wand and taking a drink.

"So Quinn," he smirked and looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone, "That's a cute girl you've snagged."

Quinn rolled her eyes and Anna reached over to slap her husband on the head.

"Shut up," Quinn mumbled, keeping her eyes on the meticulous taping of her arm.

Sam chuckled and covered a yawn with his hand. "So what's her story?"

Quinn bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows when she realized that, Merlin, she didn't _know _Rachel's story. Other than the fact that she was an Animagus, an Empath, and had probably been in Azkaban longer than she had, she knew nothing of Rachel's life. She didn't even know her _last name. _After a week of traveling with Rachel, how could she miss the chance to learn more about the woman? She had to remember to find out more.

"I don't know," she answered quietly, truthfully.

Anna and Sam shared a knowing smile before her friend turned back to her.

"You like her, don't you?"

Quinn tensed at first, but when she saw the kind smiles on their faces, she blushed and nodded only slightly.

"I feel like she's one of the few good things I have left in my life," she whispered truthfully, feeling her heart beat faster at the confession. Sam smiled at her and nudged her shoulder with his to get her to smile as well. She did and nudged him back before gasping at the cold sensation on her arm. She looked over as Anna put away her wand and her eyes dropped down to the bandaged Dark Mark that seemed to glow blue before looking normal again, but the wonderful coldness remained causing her to sigh. Anna smiled at her.

"It's a simple cooling charm," she explained as she put away the bandage tape, "You'll need to recast the charm after a couple of days, but it should make the burning a bit more bearable."

Quinn smiled gratefully a nodded, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "Thank you so much. It really is agonizing at times."

Anna nodded at her before turning back to the dishes. They talked about a much lighter subject until Anna finished the dishes and she and Sam bid her a goodnight. She gave them both hugs, telling them 'thank you' once again, and walked back to her bedroom. She shut the door quietly and looked over at the bed where Rachel was shuffling around. At first she thought that she had woken her up and she opened her mouth to apologize when she heard the whimper and frightened mumbling coming from the small brunette. She hurried to the bed and turned Rachel on her back, her eyes shut tight and her eyes moving rapidly behind closed eye lids. She began to toss and turn even more and Quinn shook her shoulders trying to rouse her from sleep.

"Rach," she whispered worriedly, cupping her cheek. "Rachel, sweetie, wake up."

Rachel whimpered even louder and when the tears began to fall down her cheeks, Quinn did the only thing that she could think to do and leaned forward to press their lips together, not pulling away until she felt Rachel kiss her back. Rachel's eyes were open and her eyes shifted between Quinn's before her face crumbled. She sat up to wrap her arms around the blonde and cried into her shoulder, mumbling words and incomplete sentences. Quinn closed her eyes, holding the girl tightly to her and lied down on the bed rubbing comforting circles on the shuddering girl's back. Nightmares were a common thing when they were in Azkaban, but since the escape, they've been rather absent in their dreamless sleeps until tonight.

"I-I couldn't s-save them," Rachel whimpered, gripping Quinn's t-shirt in her hands, "I tried, Q-Quinn. I swear, I _tried_."

"Shh," Quinn shushed her and placed a kiss on Rachel's forehead. "It was just a nightmare, Rach. Don't – don't think about it right now, okay? Just go back to sleep, I'll be right here."

Rachel sniffed before nodding, her arm tightening around Quinn's waist. Rachel, terrible memories assaulting her brain and keeping her from sleep, laid there in silence for a few minutes before she pulled away from Quinn. The blonde frowned up at her.

"What's wrong?"

Rachel shook her head and tugged at Quinn's shirt.

"Change with me."

Quinn smiled and nodded, understanding that sleeping as animals, for now, was what was comfortable for them after using their ability as a way to save their sanity for so long. She waited for Rachel to change first, scratching her behind her ears to hear that purr before morphing and letting her cuddle into her side. She pushed the desire to question Rachel about her past to the back of her mind and gave a small lick to the top of Rachel's head, waiting for her to drift off before she allowed her exhausted body to shut down for the night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The chapters are shorter in this story as an attempt to get updates out faster. Also, this story won't be as long as Eternal Sunshine at all. It'll be more like a short story not a freaking novel. **

**Also, for those that aren't hardcore Harry Potter fans like myself, I'll save you some research. **

**Legilimens: Wizards/Witches who have the ability to penetrate another's mind to see their past memories or plant ideas into their heads. (i.e. Voldemort and Snape.)**

**Occlumens: Wizards/Witches who have the ability to close of their minds to Legilimens. (i.e. Harry Potter, Snape, Draco, Bellatrix, etc.)**

**Empaths: Aren't actually mentioned in Harry Potter. The ability is actually taken from Angel, whose character Lorne had the ability to tell someone's future when they sang. While Rachel can't tell their future, she can read their emotions. (I'm a big Buffy and Angel fan.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but school is really stupid right now. And I think finals are coming up, so I should play catch up. Since these chapters are short, I might be able to push out another chapter soon. If not, then you'll probably have to wait until next weekend. **

**Thanks for all the reviews and favorites and story alerts. This chapter might be changed later. Like, when I wake up. But it might not, because I'm lazy and I don't think it's that bad. I just think it might be a little underdeveloped. I'm the author, so I'm supposed to have a harsher opinion of my own work. **

**The only thing that matters is if yall like it. So, ReadPonderEnjoy.**

* * *

><p>Quinn and Rachel stared down at the Daily Prophet that Sam had laid out in front of them on the kitchen table the next morning. Their mug shots, along with eight other Death Eaters, were on the front page under the headline that urged everyone to contact the Ministry immediately if they ever came across these "extremely dangerous" escapees. The reward under Quinn's picture, her photographic self staring emotionlessly back up at her unlike the crazed and screaming images of the other Death Eaters, read 35,000 galleons. Rachel's reward, her picture not even meeting their eyes, was a <em>surprising <em>45,000 galleons. The only non-Death Eater on the page was being made out to be one of the most dangerous of the convicts with one of the highest rewards for her head. Their crimes were written just under their bounty. Quinn's was murder.

Rachel _Berry's_ crime read _mass _murder.

Quinn looked next to her at the small brunette who had her hand in a death grip. She ran her thumb over tense knuckles, causing misty brown eyes to look up at her. The blonde frowned and reached up to gently wipe the falling tears from the woman's face. She refused to believe that Rachel was capable of mass murder. It just couldn't be possible. But then in the distant recesses of her mind, she could remember hearing about the 'Berry girl' during the Death Eater meetings her father held while Voldemort was still out of power.

They couldn't be the same girl. For Merlin's sake, this was _Rachel. _

Quinn wrapped her arm around Rachel's waist, letting the brunette lay her head on her shoulder, and slid the newspaper across the table to Anna and Sam. She cleared her throat.

"How long do we have here?" she asked quietly, gripping Rachel's hip.

Sam waved his wand over the newspaper causing it to vanish and sighed deeply. His gray eyes held Quinn's and the regret that she could see clearly in his eyes told her that they didn't have long at all.

"I'm an Auror now, Quinn."

The two fugitives straightened up immediately, a wave of fear crashing through them. The grip on Rachel's hip only tightened as Quinn worried that she just led them right back into Azkaban with the Dementor's kiss waiting as a welcome back present. She narrowed her eyes at the couple in front of them, wondering what the hell it was they were playing at feeding them and letting them sleep here.

"Since when?"

Sam looked down at the table. "I began training a few months after you were arrested."

They stared at each other. Quinn's leg bounced up and down as she prepared herself to grab Rachel and leave, run away as far as she fucking could. She was not going back to the hell hole and she would kill first before she let Rachel go back there either. She tapped her fingers on the table.

"So why take care of us?" she whispered, her eyes hard, "Why not just turn us in?"

Sam furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head.

"Because you're my best friend, Quinn."

Quinn allowed herself to relax only slightly, rubbing her thumb soothingly on Rachel's side as she continued to tremble. She looked between Anna and Sam, both looking regretful, before sighing.

"What does that mean?"

Sam reached over and stilled Quinn's tapping fingers.

"I'm not going to turn you in. But if you stay here then the chances of the both of you being recaptured are incredibly high," he explained quietly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have to understand that if we could keep you both here, we would."

"We understand," Rachel whispered, her eyes trained to the wooden table. She just hoped they'd give them some food and water before they kicked them out into the cold. "You both don't deserve to get in trouble for helping us."

Quinn nodded and moved her hand to lace with Rachel's. "Just tell us when we need to leave. We'll be out of your hair and no one will ever have to know we were here."

Anna began to shake her head frantically. "Merlin, no, we're not just going to throw you out in the snow."

At the confused look on the two women's faces, Sam nodded.

"I have a cousin in the States that already said she'd take you two in," he chuckled and laid his arm over the back of his wife's chair, "In fact, she seemed rather excited to do it."

The fugitives' bodies sagged in relief. Quinn glanced over at Rachel and frowned at the distracted look still on her face. She squeezed her hand, trying to get Rachel look at her with no success. She sighed and glanced back over at Sam and Anna who were pretending they weren't watching them. She shook her head, trying to ignore the hurt she felt in her heart.

"Does she know about us?"

Sam scratched at his chin looking a little sheepish.

"I explained the basics, but I'm not quite sure she fully understood. Regardless, she was happy to take you guys."

Quinn nodded in a daze and looked back of at Rachel who was still burning a hole into table with her gaze. She squeezed the brunette's hand to pull her out of her head. She didn't look up, but she squeezed back and Quinn accepted that that was probably all she was going to get. She turned back to Sam.

"How long do we have?" she asked again.

"A few Aurors are coming by for lunch tomorrow. I'll have a portkey set up and scheduled to leave at 9:00am sharp."

Quinn sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was easy to stay with Sam because she's known him her entire life. She didn't know Sam's cousin. This was a complete shot in the dark, but they still had a place to stay thousands of miles away from Azkaban, so she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Whatever that meant. Quinn shook her head.

Silly Muggle sayings.

"Thanks, Sam," she said quietly, gratefully. She stood up from the table, suddenly feeling exhausted from the "excitement" of the morning. She pulled Rachel up with her, who looked just as tired as she, and gave a small smile to Sam and Anna. "We'll be in the room."

They nodded in understanding; years in Azkaban and traveling in the snow for a week afterwards would make anyone exhausted for months. Anna smiled at them.

"I'll call you when lunch is ready."

They nodded their thanks and Quinn led Rachel out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bedroom. Rachel walked to the bed as Quinn shut the door behind them and she sat down on the edge of the soft mattress. The blonde leaned against the door and stared at Rachel who had her head bowed down. Tears dripped off the tip of her nose and when she wiped them away with a sniff, Quinn couldn't take it anymore. She walked forward until she stood just in front of the crying brunette and cupped her cheek to tilt her face up. She wiped the tears away with her thumb and frowned at the broken look in Rachel's eyes.

She guided Rachel into a soft chaste kiss, leaning their foreheads together when she pulled away. Rachel reached to grab the hand that still cupped her cheek, closing her eyes at the calloused yet still soft skin. They stayed that way for a moment, Quinn waiting for the flow of Rachel's tears to stem. When Rachel was reduced to just small sniffles, Quinn grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her to the head of the bed. She lied down and Rachel immediately placed her head on her shoulder, molding her body against hers. Quinn placed a kiss on the brown bed of hair and wrapped her arms protectively around the trembling woman that she still hardly knew. She wanted to pry. She was beyond curious about Rachel, especially now that she's seen what her crime was claimed to be. But for now, as Rachel's stray tears wet her t-shirt, she was content just to hold her.

She would always be content just to hold her.

* * *

><p>When Quinn woke up an hour or so later, she was alone. She reached over to the other side of the bed and frowned when she found the sheets to be cold. Her heart pounded in her chest again and she shook her head at herself; her body always seemed to panic whenever Rachel wasn't within reaching distance of her. She would worry that she was becoming dependant on the small brunette, but now, after everything that's happened and everything that was bound to happen, she <em>needed <em>somebody to depend on.

Come tomorrow, Rachel would truly be the only thing she'd have left in the world.

She stood up with a stretch and dragged her feet out of the bedroom to the kitchen, her frown only deepening when the only person in there was Anna fixing food at the stove. The brunette turned away from the simmering pot and smiled at Quinn, letting go of the spoon that kept stirring as she wiped her hands on the towel over her shoulder.

"Rachel went outside with Sam to gather some firewood," she told her with a small knowing smirk.

Quinn blushed and nodded her head shyly as she made her way to the back door. She peeked out the window and spotted Sam by the edge of the trees carrying an armful of wood. Next to him with a skinny branch being carried in her mouth was Rachel, her dark brown fur flecked with snow. She chuckled, feeling her heart swell at the sight, and pushed the door open. She changed, sighing in relief when her fur kept her warm against the blistering cold, and made her way towards them. When she got closer Rachel turned her head to look at her, like she felt her approach, and her tail swished as she pranced towards her.

Quinn bent her head down to let Rachel brush against it and gave her a small lick to the side of her muzzle, both of them purring at the contact. Sam turned to look at them, smiling softly at their show of affection.

"Hey, Quinn," he said softly and stepping forward, juggling with the wood so that he could pet her on the head. He tugged at her ear and chuckled when she shook her head and growled at him. "So, did you come out here to help us gather firewood or just cuddle with your girlfriend?"

If they could blush, they would've. Instead Quinn just growled again and glared at him. He held up his hand in surrender and turned away with a small laugh. The lion rolled her eyes at his back and looked down at Rachel who sat at her feet with a hopeful look in her eyes, the branch still in her mouth. They've never talked about what they would label their relationship. It was always one thing that just didn't need to be discussed. They needed each other. That was it. Having someone else label their relationship for them was a little awkward and there was that worry that hearing the G word would cause a rift.

With a surge of confidence, the lion leaned down and licked on the side of the cat's head, making Rachel purr contentedly. The cat's eyes shined happily up at Quinn and she returned the lick, accepting the silent offer of a romantic companion before they followed Sam through the woods, walking pressed up against each other. After about twenty minutes of gathering the pieces of dry wood they could find, Anna came out and called for lunch. The three of them walked back to the house, each of them carrying their own load of wood. Rachel and Quinn shook their fur free of the flakes of snow before changing and following Sam into the magically warm house.

They were eating Anna's delicious meal in the midst of comfortable conversation when that sick, familiar despair crept into their body. Rachel's fork fell from her shaking fingers and the sound of it clanging on the plate was faint in Quinn's ears under the anguished screaming in her head. She felt sick.

_Mum?_

Next to her, Anna gasped and her fingers dug into her husband's forearm.

"Sam," she whispered, her eyes wide and panicked as she stared at the small window above the sink that looked out into the backyard. Sam, Quinn and Rachel looked over and the color drained from all of their faces at the three masked figures walking towards the house from the woods. A couple of Dementors floated behind them. They all stood up and Sam and Anna whipped out their wands.

"Go into the bedroom," Sam told them, his face hard and ready for a fight. He grabbed Anna's hand waved his wand. A silver shimmering fox erupted from the tip, waiting for instruction. Anna mirrored him and a silver swan patronus flew up into the air and out of the window. "Anna will lock you in."

Quinn nodded and had to drag a practically catatonic Rachel towards the bedroom, Anna following quickly behind them. They could just hear Sam tell his patronus to get help before the sound of shattered glass pierced their ears. Anna all but threw them into the bedroom, a whimper of Sam's name tumbling from her lips. When she waved her wand, the wall slid closed over the window and Quinn caught a glimpse of Anna's worried face before the door slammed shut and disappeared to create a fourth solid wall.

Quinn closed her eyes as the Dementor's influence began to disappear, but her arms only tightened around Rachel's trembling form when the house shook around them. The muffled shouts of curses and jinxes could be hear beyond their haven and, against her neck, Quinn could _feel_ the faint whimpers coming from Rachel. She leaned back to get a glimpse of the brunette's face, her eyes shut tight as she shook her head and mumbled indiscernible words under her breath.

"Rachel," she whispered, her hand rising to wipe away the tears from Rachel's cheek. "Look at me."

More spells crashed into the house and the voices in the hallway successfully caused Rachel to snap open her eyes, but they were filled with fear as they stared at the wall beyond Quinn's shoulder. Quinn hugged her tightly to her chest as she turned them around to face where the door used to be.

"What the – she should be _right here_!"

"_Arg! _You led us to _another _dead end!"

"_No! _I swear! She has to be he – "

The faint pops of the apparating Aurors only caused the fear to spike even higher in their racing hearts. Quinn bent her head down until her lips were right by Rachel's ear.

"Rachel, I'm right here," she breathed into her ear. "I'm right here, baby."

"_Quinn_," Rachel whimpered into her neck, "Oh Merlin, they're _here_, they found us, _everyone _found us."

Quinn squeezed her arms tightly around Rachel, trying to still her shivering body.

"_I won't let them have you."_

Rachel froze at the growl in her ear. Quinn pulled away and their eyes met, the hazel orbs bright and fierce. She cupped the brunette's cheek, leaning their heads together.

"I won't let _anything _happen to you."

Rachel closed her eyes as she let those words flows through her, granting her a sense of protection regardless of how false it may be. They stood like that together in the middle of the room, their lips brushing together with every breath they took as they listened to the commotion die down beyond the walls. The Dementor's effects were completely gone and she doubted the Death Eaters would've stayed after reinforcements arrived. Once the Aurors were gone then Quinn could breathe a little easier. If anyone got hurt, if Sam and Anna got in trouble, if they got arrested then it would all be on Quinn's hands.

It would be all her fault.

Time lost all meaning as they waited and, when the window and door reappeared, Quinn pushed Rachel behind her and turned around, waiting and prepared for anyone to come in. The doorknob turned and Quinn could feel the growl bubbling in her throat.

"Quinn?" The two women both deflated with relief when Sam poked his face into the bedroom. He smiled at them, his hair in disarray and dried blood on his face, but the cuts were already healed. "Death Eaters and Dementors are gone. The other Aurors went to track them down."

He opened the door all the way and immediately found himself in the clutches of Rachel as she rushed up to him and wrapped him in a big hug.

"Thank you so much," she whispered against his chest. He chuckled and patted her on the back.

"It's never a problem, Rachel," he said, catching Quinn's eyes over Rachel's shoulder. Rachel pulled away and gave him a small smile, the tears still falling absently down her cheeks.

Quinn walked forward and wrapped her arms around Sam's neck. She closed her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Sam."

"Shush," he whispered, his arms squeezing around her waist. "Don't ever apologize because I chose to protect you."

Quinn shook her head and opened her eyes meeting the still kind and understanding blue eyes of Anna staring back at her, dried blood on her face as well. She was lucky to have friends like Sam and Anna at this time in her life.

She only frowned when she remembered that she would have to leave them behind.

* * *

><p>The day dragged on with much less excitement after that as the house was magically fixed and Sam had to stop by the Ministry to report on what happened. At night, Quinn and Rachel laid in bed together in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Rachel traced a finger over the soft thumping of Quinn's heart. She had so many plans for her future when she was younger. So many dreams. None of them included being a fugitive and choosing to run and live with a woman she hardly knew. She placed a small kiss over Quinn's heart, smiling softly when it began to race.<p>

"Tell me something about yourself, Quinn."

Quinn huffed a chuckle, raking her fingers through Rachel's hair. She hummed to herself as she pondered. "I'm thirty-three. I think."

Rachel giggled. "You think?"

"I've sort of lost track of the time," Quinn shrugged, placing a kiss on top of her head. "Your turn."

"I'm thirty-one. December eighteenth," Rachel told her, moving her head to find a more comfortable place on Quinn's chest if it were possible. "You better remember it."

Quinn chuckled and nodded. "I'll never forget."

They continued this game of getting to know each other for a few hours. Quinn learned how Rachel studied to become an animagus because she was bored one summer going into her seventh year of school and how she was born as an Empath. Rachel, in return, learned that Quinn and Sam's fathers were childhood friends and that, unlike her, Quinn was forced to become an animagus, as well as a Legilimen and an Occlumen. Rachel went to Hogwarts. Quinn went to Durmstrang. The conversation continued to run smoothly, but died down into a tense silence when they came across the last thing that still waited to be discussed. Something weighed their tongue down whenever the opportunity arrived to confess their crimes or pry it from the other girl. How were they supposed to ask about that?

How were they supposed to talk about the very worst aspects of their life?

Instead, Rachel cuddled into Quinn's body and closed her eyes, letting the conversation sit on the back burner for another night. She sighed and placed a small kiss on the soft skin of the pale warm neck in front of her.

"Good night, Quinn."

Quinn closed her eyes, letting out a disappointed breath. Soon, she'll ask.

Soon.

"Good night, Rachel,"

* * *

><p>The next morning, they gave Anna and Sam really, really tight hugs and plenty of thanks as they waited for departure time of the old, broken clock that was serving as their portkey. Quinn squeezed Sam tightly, fighting against the tears that welled up in her eyes when she realized that this may be the last time she will be able to see her best friend.<p>

"Thank you for everything, Sam," she whispered, hearing the faint hum of the portkey sitting on the kitchen table. "I'll miss you so much."

Sam kissed her on the forehead and gave her a soft smile, "I'll miss you, too. We'll write. I promise."

Quinn smiled and wiped at her tears as she nodded, hiking up the small satchel filled with borrowed clothes that Anna had given them. She traced her eyes over Sam's face, trying to remember every feature before she was forced to turn away from the brother she wished she had. The humming of the portkey got louder and she gave a quick, tight, grateful hug to Anna before grabbing Rachel's hand and placing a couple of fingers on the vibrating clock. Rachel placed a finger on the clock as well before turning to Sam and Anna who watched them with a smile. Anna waved at them as they began to feel that pull at their navel. Sam beamed at them.

"Tell Brittany I say hi," he told them before the portkey dragged them to their destination half way across the world.

Just before the pulling and the spinning became too much for Quinn, they were unceremoniously dumped on the floor of a small bedroom. Quinn groaned as she closed her eyes and waited for the world to settle and she felt Rachel burrow her face into her shoulder. It had been far too long since she had travelled by portkey and now she remembered why that was her least favorite method of transportation. She brought a hand to massage her head when the sound of rushing footsteps sounded out in the hallway and the door to the bedroom they found themselves in burst open. The two fugitives looked up startled at the two women that stood in the doorway. The brunette Latina narrowed her eyes dangerously and whipped out her wand, pointing it at their heads.

"Who _the fuck _are you?" she seethed, stepping forward into the room.

Quinn and Rachel stood up and backed away, Quinn making sure that she stood in front of Rachel. Another threatening growled rumbled in her throat and the Latina just arched an eyebrow at her, her grip tightening on the handle of her wand. Rachel placed a calming on the small of Quinn's back just as the blue eyed blonde that had been looking at them curiously beamed and skipped forward.

"Did Sammy send you?" she asked excitedly. The other witch looked over at the tall blonde in confusion, her wand hand faltering only slightly. When the fugitives nodded their heads hesitantly she squealed and wrapped them both in a _tight _hug. "_Yay! _I totally forgot you were coming!"

"Britt?" the Latina said, glancing at the strangers that literally popped out of nowhere into their guest bedroom and finding them both to be just as confused. "You know these two?"

"No," Brittany said happily, finally letting them go to breathe.

"You don't?"

Brittany shook her head, the smile still on her face. "I'm just meeting them right now, silly. They're Sammy's friends."

The Latina dropped let her wand arm drop slowly to her side, a watchful eye still on Quinn and Rachel. "Sammy? Your cousin in England or wherever?"

Brittany nodded her head and held out her hand to the two bemused women. "Hi, I'm Brittany."

Rachel grabbed her hand and shook it gently with a small smile. "Rachel. And this is Quinn," she patted Quinn on the arm as the former Death Eater shook her hand.

Brittany seemed absolutely delighted they introduced themselves to her and grabbed the woman's arm next to her. "This is my wife, Santana. San, be nice."

Santana pursed her lips and Quinn noticed that her eyes were trained on her bandaged left forearm. The Latina crossed her arms over her chest, her wand still held firmly in her hand.

"What are you doing here?"

Brittany answered her with a smile. "They're going to be living here."

Santana whipped her head to her wife, her eyes widened in disbelief. "Wha – we don't even fucking know them!"

"_San," _the blonde said tugging at her hand and Quinn noticed the resolve break behind the dark brown eyes. Much like her resolve broke whenever Rachel pouted at her. "I already said they could. They have nowhere else to go."

The Latina clenched her jaw in frustration and she looked between Brittany's pleading blue eyes. Her fist shook by her sides. With a defeated growl, Santana turned her eyes to the two fugitives, the dark orbs swirling with suspicion and distrust before she turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, mumbling a string of Spanish profanities under her breath. Brittany watched her leave with a small frown before turning back to Rachel and Quinn with a large, _genuine, _smile.

"Don't mind her," she told them, "You are both welcome here."

Rachel smiled at her and nodded. "Thank you," she whispered.

Brittany beamed and jumped forward to hug them again.

"I'll let you two get settled," she told them as she walked backwards towards the hallway. "Just come out and follow your ears when you want to come find us. I'll give you a tour!"

She bumped clumsily into the doorway with a giggle and waved at them before shutting the door. They could hear her fading footsteps skipping down the hall. The two women let out a breath of relief when they were left alone and Rachel sat down heavily at the edge of the bed. Quinn looked around the plain bedroom they found themselves in. There was only a full bed, a dresser much too large for the handful of clothes that they had, and an old desk pushed in the corner. This didn't have the same comfortable atmosphere that Sam's house had, especially when Santana obviously didn't want them there. But as her eyes fell on Rachel who was observing the room as well from her place on them bed, she couldn't help but feel a surge of happiness.

Rachel was here with her. Everything was fine.

Quinn stepped forward until she stood between Rachel's legs, bringing the brunette's attention to her. Rachel's brown eyes were wet with tears and Quinn would've worried if it weren't for that bright smile on her face. Rachel wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and hugged her so that her head rested against Quinn's stomach.

"We got away," she whispered.

Quinn smiled and nodded, raising her hand to run her fingers through Rachel's hair. Her eyes fell to her forearm and the new, thicker bandages that Anna applied that morning, along with a fresh cooling charm, had a faint brown mark showing.

The Dark Mark was already beginning to burn through.

Quinn turned her arm away, hiding the mark as she hugged Rachel to her. They'll be looking for her. They'll always be looking for her.

"Yeah," she whispered, swallowing against the lump in her throat. "We got away."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Seemed a little rushed. But I don't know, I still sort of like it. And I know a lot of people are curious as to why Quinn and Rachel were in Azkaban and I teased the reveal again. Sorry. Soon though, I promise. **

**Durmstrang was made to seem like an all boys school in the movies, but in the books it is co-ed. So that's where Quinn went, even though she's British and her home school, I guess you could say, would've been Hogwarts.**

**This chapter was originally going to have more into it with Santana and Brittany, but it'll be included in the next chapter. Hopefully you enjoyed this. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This time change seriously just fucked up my already fucked up sleep schedule. And finals are next week, so no update until probably my spring break in a couple of weeks. But thanks for the lovely reviews and alerts. You guys are sweet. **

**Sleep is nonexistent, so I will proof read now, but mistakes will still likely be in here. Forgive me. **

**Read. Ponder. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>After they unpacked the little clothes that they had in their satchels, they left their room in search of their hosts with only a little bit of hesitation. Immediately, they were assaulted with a lot of sounds from several different places. On the shelves along the walls were a variety of muggle objects from pencil sharpeners to piggy banks to toy cars that had been charmed to whistle, hum, dance and fight. The pictures on the wall were smiling and giggling at them while the curious sound of clicks and small explosions rang out from below them, shaking the floor only slightly. Just down the hall, over all the random noise, they could hear soft singing coming from one of the rooms and Rachel smiled as someone else's happiness and content flowed through her.<p>

Following their ears was going to be infinitely harder than they thought.

"What are you looking for, dears?"

Quinn and Rachel snapped their heads towards the wall behind them where a plain mirror shined innocently back at them.

"Uh, d-do you know where Brittany is?" Quinn asked, feeling slightly foolish for talking to a mirror that she wasn't sure had spoken in the first place. But then a gleam of light shimmered over the reflective glass and the elderly woman's voice chuckled.

"She's in the kitchen. Down the hall then make a left."

"Thank you," Quinn said quietly with a small smile before grabbing Rachel's hand and walking slowly along the hallway.

They observed the pictures of Brittany and Santana, who looked completely different with the large smile that was on her face, staring and laughing lovingly with each other. There were more pictures of people that must've been their friends and family, and the last picture before the turn of the hallway was of a little girl running in and out of frame chasing a colorful butterfly.

The door behind them opened as they watched the picture and they turned to see the same little girl peeking at them from inside the room. Rachel smiled softly at her.

"Hello."

The little girl smiled and opened the door wider to step out into the hall dressed in her pajamas and clutching a stuffed duck in her arms. Her hair was dark, almost black and her skin tone was slightly lighter than Santana's giving it a lovely golden hue, but her eyes were the most striking, beautiful blue they've ever seen and they shined happily as she stared at them.

"Hi," she said quietly, bringing up her little duck to hide her shy smile, "Are you looking for my mommy?"

Rachel nodded, bending down so that she could look the little girl in the eyes. She was the perfect mixture of her mothers. "Yes, we are. Can you take us to her?"

The little girl beamed at them, nodding her head vigorously before leading them around the corner and through the living room, towards the alluring scent of delicious breakfast. When they got to the kitchen, Brittany had her back to them and was dancing at the stove as she cooked. She turned around when her daughter giggled and she smiled at them and walked over, the utensils doing the cooking by themselves. She squealed as she bent down to pick the little girl up.

"My little ducky! Good morning!" the blonde cooed as she placed a big kiss on the girl's cheek making her giggle out loud again. Brittany chuckled and turned to the two witches. "Did you introduce yourself to our guests?"

The little girl blushed and shook her head. "I forgot," she whispered loudly into her mother's ear and Rachel and Quinn chuckled. Brittany gave her an understanding smile because she was no stranger to forgetting things. She walked them closer to the two witches and the little girl held her hand out to Rachel.

"I'm Marcy Lopez," she told her quietly and Rachel shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Marcy," she said with a beaming smile, "My name is Rachel."

Marcy whispered her name under her breath before turning to Quinn and holding out her hand.

"I'm Marcy Lopez."

Quinn giggled and shook her hand. "Quinn. It's a pleasure."

Marcy whispered her name again and brought her hand back to cradle her duck and smiled proudly at her mother like she was waiting for the approval of her manners, which Brittany gave in the form of another big kiss on the cheek. She set her down and nudged her towards the staircase that they had passed in the living room. "Go tell your mama breakfast is ready."

The little girl skipped out of the room and Brittany turned back to the stove to finish cooking, humming once again. The two fugitives sat down at the table and Rachel's eyes were trained on the bubbly blonde.

Quinn's eyes were trained on Rachel.

She observed the expressions on her face, how her eyebrows furrowed as she read the emotions coming off of Brittany in waves. A quiet giggle tumbled from the brunette's smiling lips; it was fascinating and Quinn wished she could share in the amusement that was Brittany's emotions. When their eyes met, she noticed that the brown orbs were just the slightest shade lighter before they dimmed to their original chocolate color when Brittany stopped humming. Rachel blushed under Quinn's stare and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a shy smile.

"Do you still not eat animal products, Rachel?"

The two witches snapped their eyes to Brittany who had her back to them and was cooking away as if she hadn't said a thing. Quinn cut her eyes Rachel, wondering if she had accidently forgotten that bit of information, but the small frown on her face told her that she hadn't.

"How did you know that?"

Brittany turned off the stove and spun around to look at them with a smile.

"The tea pot told me," she told them seriously and whipped out her wand, twirling it between her fingers. "So do you? I can make something else if you don't."

Rachel glanced at the innocent little tea pot that sat on one of the burners on the stove, silent and unmoving. She shook her head, utterly bemused.

"At this time, I could eat anything," she answered, feeling only a little bit of guilt for the beautiful animals that she was about to ingest. But after being starved to the brink of death for as long as she had, could anyone possibly blame her for eating anything at all edible?

Brittany nodded her head, showing that she understood, and she tapped the tip of her wand to her chin, her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation.

"What is that darn spe– " she snapped her eyes to the cuckoo clock on the wall and tilted her head as she stared at. Then she smiled and nodded her head. "Ah, thank you, I remember now," she mumbled and waved her wand over the finished food with a whispered incantation and the bits of bacon, scrambled eggs, home fries and toast began to plate themselves.

As Brittany handed them their food, Marcy and Santana's voices floated up the stairs until they appeared in the entryway of the kitchen. The Latina narrowed her eyes at Rachel and Quinn, her fingers wiggling by the wand in the holster on her hip as her other hand gripped her daughter's. Rachel dropped her eyes to her food, but Quinn held Santana's glare as the old mantra pounded in her head.

_Fabrays do not back down. _

Brittany interrupted their staring contest as she stepped in front of her wife and gave her a kiss. Santana softened as she looked at the blonde and kissed her again, knowing that Brittany disapproved of her "rudeness" to their "guests". She threw another withering glance at Quinn and Rachel before sitting down at the table, making sure that Marcy was between her and Brittany. The conversation was light as they ate, which mostly only consisted of Brittany and Marcy with small inputs from the others.

After they finished eating, Marcy was sent up stairs to get ready for the day leaving a tense silence in her wake. Rachel and Quinn sat on one end of the table, their hands clasped together, and Brittany and Santana sat on the other with Brittany staring reproachfully at her wife.

"_San,_" she said quietly. "You promised to be _nice._"

Santana pursed her lips and stared right into Quinn's eyes. She tapped her fingertips on the table and spoke as evenly as possible.

"Why are you here?"

"Sam sent us here," Quinn answered briskly.

"Do _not _get fucking smart with me. I am not someone you want to piss off," Santana threatened in a whisper, "Now, answer the fucking question."

Rachel could feel Quinn's hand squeeze her own and she tugged on it to keep the blonde from responding.

"It wasn't safe for us anymore," she told her quietly.

"And why is that? What did you do?"

"Santana, _stop_."

The Latina snapped her eyes to her wife angrily, standing up from her seat. "Britt, you don't know these people!"

"You don't know us either."

Santana whipped out her wand and pointed it at Quinn, "And yet, I bet I'm completely justified in having my wand shoved in your face."

Rachel whimpered next to Quinn and stiffened in her seat as the blonde just clenched her jaw, feeling the surge of indignation spark in her heart. Santana had every right to not trust them, sure, but it didn't mean Quinn had to take her shit lying down. For the hour or so that they've been there, they haven't done anything to warrant anyone's anger. Brittany stood up and physically lowered Santana's wand arm before Quinn could say anything that she would regret. Brittany pushed Santana a little bit away from the table and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's enough," she said sternly, but softly.

Santana was breathing heavily as she met Brittany's blue eyes. She could feel them already beginning to ebb away her anger until she was starting to feel frustrated with herself. She was justified, she just knew she was. But her _wife _wanted her to play nice and when has she been able to deny her anything? She dropped her eyes to the bandage covering Quinn's forearm.

"What happened to your arm?"

Quinn tried to subtly hide her arm against her side and Santana narrowed her eyes at the movement.

"I burned it."

"I'm sure you did."

"_San," _Brittany said exasperated, grabbing Santana's face and turning her eyes to her. "You need to open up the store."

Santana looked at the clock on the wall and growled in frustration. Her hand clenched around her wand, the perfect curse on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she shook her head and spun on her heel, a few choice words being mumbled under her breath as she stormed away. The two fugitives visibly relaxed in their chairs and Brittany's shoulders dropped. Rachel sighed and turned to look at Quinn.

"You shouldn't test her."

Quinn dropped her eyes to her lap and shook her head. She knew Rachel was right, of course she was, but she couldn't fucking help it. It wasn't in her to let someone disrespect her like that. "I'm sorry."

Brittany shook her head and turned around to face them, the small smile back on her face.

"It's okay," she said quietly and moved over to the clean dishes that were being stacked by the sink. She put the plates away in the cupboard and wiped her hands on a towel. "Santana shouldn't have been rude to you two anyway. She owes you an apology as well."

Rachel shook her head and opened her mouth to tell Brittany that that wouldn't be necessary when little footsteps made their way towards them. Marcy was dressed in a cute floral sundress and the stuffed duck was still clutched in her hand. Brittany beamed at the sight of her daughter.

"Hello Ducky," she said walking forward to kneel down in front of Marcy. "You want to take Rachel and Quinn on a tour with me?"

The little girl nodded her head excitedly, skipped over to Rachel and grabbed her hand, dragging her out of her chair. Rachel looked over her shoulder at Quinn with a giggle as she followed Marcy out of the kitchen. Quinn watched them leave, letting the small smile creep on her face. She turned to watch Brittany throw away some trash as she hummed under her breath.

"I wanted to thank you," Quinn said quietly, "I don't know if you know what the consequences are of letting us stay here, but thank you."

Brittany's hand paused for the briefest of seconds in midair before she dropped the trash in the garbage can.

"I know."

Quinn shook her head. "Did the tea kettle tell you?"

"No," Brittany beamed and walked towards the living room with a giggle, "the sink told me."

Quinn chuckled and decided from then on that she would never question Brittany and her odd ways of knowing things. She stood up and followed Brittany out of the kitchen, smiling at the sight of Marcy showing Rachel their collection of muggle movies on the shelf right next to, if she remembered the terminology correctly, the television set. Marcy kept a hold on their hands as Brittany showed them the rest of the top floor which consisted of a living room, kitchen and their bedrooms. It was nice, cozy, but what caught and kept Quinn's attention was the array of muggle objects all around. The once forbidden fascination was bubbling in her stomach and she just knew that boredom would not come easily here.

It was downstairs that surprised the two witches the most.

Santana Lopez's family were apparently famous wandmakers who owned a shop in, what they were told later, Vertic Alley. Their shop reminded Quinn and Rachel of a cleaner and more organized Ollivander's with ceiling high shelves packed with long, color coded rectangular boxes. Santana watched them like a hawk from behind the counter, a pile of plain sticks in front of her. Off to the side of the store were a couple of chairs sat around a small, draped circular table. In the middle of the table sat a smiling stuffed panda bear.

"What is this for?" Rachel asked as she walked over and looked the stuffed bear in the face. Brittany smiled.

"Bamboo can tell the future."

Rachel's eyes widened in excitement. "He talks?"

Marcy giggled and nodded her head. "He talks to my mommy."

Quinn and Rachel looked at Brittany who was furrowing her eyebrows at the panda.

"I don't think he makes sense half the time," she admitted quietly, patting it on the head, "But people keep coming back so I guess _they_ understand him."

When the first customer came in to the shop, Quinn and Rachel went up stairs to watch movies with Marcy. The two witches sat on the floor in front of the television box thingy while Marcy carefully chose the movies they were going to watch. Rachel grabbed Quinn's hand and laced their fingers together, laying her head on her shoulder.

"It's been so long since I've seen one of these. Have you ever watched a muggle movie before?"

Quinn stared at the black screen in front of them and after a small moment nodded her head.

"Yes," she whispered, "My mum loved them."

Rachel could feel Quinn's body tense against hers and let the conversation drop once again. Not now. Not while happy, innocent Marcy was here.

Later, she told herself.

But that night, their tongues were heavy once again and they fell asleep together with their unanswered questions hanging above them.

* * *

><p>The next couple of days followed very much the same as the first day. Breakfast consisted of a Brittany and Marcy driven conversation as Santana and Quinn glared at each other from across the table. While Brittany and Santana worked in the wand shop, Quinn, Rachel and Marcy would watch movies, sitting cross legged in front of the television set with the same wide eyes and excited, fascinated smiles. And it was nice.<p>

Lunch and Dinner? Re: Breakfast.

At nights, Rachel and Quinn made it a habit to share a little bit about themselves before they fell asleep. Just bits of worthless information, nothing too invasive of their dark pasts. Sometimes it would be awkward after conversation ended, each wanting to bite the proverbial bullet and ask the question on tips of their tongues, but neither was brave enough. The moment would pass, their eyelids would grow heavy and they'd share a soft kiss(es) before they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Santana's attitude toward them hadn't changed at all, even though Brittany has been slowly giving her the cold shoulder. She leaned against the counter in her store and stared at the ceiling where she knew Brittany was helping Marcy get ready for bed and Rachel and Quinn were doing whatever the fuck it was that they did at night. She rolled her eyes and scoffed. Rachel actually didn't bother Santana too much. She talked a lot. A whole fucking lot. But that was fine. It was Quinn that she didn't like.

That bitch.

Quinn was too quiet. She watched Santana almost as much as Santana watched her. The defiant challenge in her eyes almost made her want to give Quinn a wand just so they could duel it out. And she could teach that bitch to mess with a Lopez.

When the bell rang above the door to her shop she rolled her eyes at herself for forgetting to lock it earlier.

"We're closed," she told whoever it was, not taking her eyes from the ceiling. When they didn't answer or leave, she turned around the face them, taking out her wand almost as a reflex. She raised her eyebrow at the two dark clothed men that stood on the other side of the counter, one with a folded up newspaper under his arm. "We are _closed. _Get out of my store."

"Where is she?" one of the men whispered.

Santana tilted her head. "I don't know who the fuck you're talking about."

"Quinn Fabray," he growled out in frustration, slamming his hand on the counter and making the sleeve of his shirt rise up on his forearm, "She's _here. _We know she is."

Santana chuckled in his face even as a burning anger was beginning to build in her stomach. She eyed the tattoo on his arm in a passing glance before staring the man directly in his eyes.

"I don't know who the fuck you are talking about," she said to him again before bringing up her wand and pointing it at him. "But trust me when I say that hiding that woman here would be the _last _thing I would want. Now get the fuck out of my face."

The two men raised their own wands and pointed them at Santana. The man laughedat her.

"Don't bother lying to us," he told her, flicking a strand of hair away from her face with his wand, "Don't be a fool and make this harder on yourself, little girl."

Santana growled and, with a quick flick of her wrist, the man was blown off of his feet and crashed into the wall by the front door. She slashed her wand at the other man left standing just as he raised his to retaliated and he welped in pain craddling his arm, dropping his wand and the newspaper to the floor. When he looked up, he found himself almost nose to nose with Santana's wand.

"Try me. I fucking begyou," she hissed, the tip of her wand letting off sparks that licked his skin.

He hesitated and she almost smirked.

"I know who you people are," she whispered, dropping her eyes briefly to his forearm, "So you can do one of two things: you can pick up your wand, grab your buddy and stay away from my family or I can introduce you to a couple of Aurors that I'm sure are dying to meet you. Decide _now."_

There was a moment where his eyes flittered between Santana's and when he discovered nothing but absolute sincerity, he turned around, picked up his wand and unconscious partner, and left. Santana watched them leave, her wand still raised even after the door had closed behind them. Her hand shook and she breathed heavily as she tried to control her fury. She flicked her wand and dropped her eyes to the newspaper that flew up from the floor and landed on the counter in a heap. Santana turned it over and eyed the front page of what turned out to be the Daily Prophet.

Her hand clenched around her wand so tightly it nearly broke in half as she eyed two of the ten faces that stared back up at her.

She spun on her heel and stomped up the stairs, slashing her wand over her shoulder, locking the front door to the shop. When she burst into the living room, Brittany was waiting for her with worried eyes.

"Santana – "

The Latina brushed past her and turned down the hallway, stopping when she met her daughter standing in the doorway to her bedroom. Marcy looked up at her with watering, scared eyes.

"Mama?"

Santana walked forward and gently pushed Marcy into her bedroom. She bent down and placed a kiss on top of her head. "You stay in here, okay? You promise?"

When Marcy nodded, she stood up and left the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She ignored her wife again and stomped down the hall to the guest room. She kicked open the door and the two of them walked in before she shut it and placed a silencing charm on the room because she doubted she was going to be able to keep quiet.

When Quinn and Rachel stood up hastily from the bed, Santana slashed her wand at the blonde with an angry growl. Quinn was blown back into the wall behind her with a pained groan as her head smacked against the plaster. Santana pulled away from the hands that tried to hold her back and ignored Rachel's scream of surprise as she stepped up to Quinn and ripped the bandage from her forearm. She dropped it to the ground where it smoked and sizzled at her feet and she glared at the mark that shown proudly on Quinn's forearm.

"_You fucking bitch."_

Once the bandage was removed, Quinn's eyes widened and watered at the unbelievable pain that shot through her body, stealing the breath from her lungs. She had forgotten the pain. Merlin, she was going to be sick. She fell to her knees with a cry and curled around her scorching arm. Santana grabbed her chin and forced her face up to her, digging the tip of her wand into her cheek.

"You will regret ever coming here," she whispered to her, her voice dripping with nothing but deathly promise. "I will fucking _kill you _where you kneel."

Then a strong wind blew her away from Quinn and the blonde fell to the floor, whimpering. Santana spun around to face Brittany who had her wand pointed at her.

"San," Brittany said a little shakily, though her wand was as steady as ever, "Please, calm down."

Santana let out a disbelieving laugh and shook her head.

"Calm down? _Calm down? _Brittany, she is a _Death Eater!"_ she shouted, pointing her wand at Rachel who was now cradling a shaking Quinn. "They are _murderers! F__ugitives!"_

"You don't know why th – "

"_It doesn't fucking matter!_" Santana yelled at her wife, making her step back startled. "I will not have someone bringing Death Eaters around here and putting my _wife _and my _daughter _in danger_!"_

Brittany shook her head resolutely, her eyes bright and determined. "We aren't kicking them out."

"_Brittany," _Santana growled, "I _know_ that you know more than I do. And you may have a better insight on the situation, but they are _not_ worth our daughter's safety. We don't _know _them so do not_ trust_ them!"

"But we know Sammy," Brittany said quietly, dropping her wand to her side and standing tall. "And I trust Sammy because he's good people. He wanted to help them. _I_ want them."

Santana let out a mirthless laugh and shook her head at the ceiling. This was beyond unbelievable. The doghouse was probably her destination for tonight, but this was one argument in which she refused to back down. She turned to the two women still on the floor and scowled at them.

"Pack your fucking bags."

And with that, she spared one more glance at Brittany before she stormed out of the bedroom. Brittany deflated in the middle of the room and looked at Rachel who was still cradling the whimpering blonde, her brown eyes stricken. Brittany frowned on them before she turned and walked out of the room.

Rachel let the helpless whimper fall from her lips. This was it. They've lost another safe haven. The prospect of hiding was now proving to be an impossible dream. She closed her eyes, the tears being squeezed out of her eyes to roll down her cheeks and buried her face into Quinn's blonde hair. In between cries and gasps of pain, Rachel could hear Quinn apologize again and again under her breath.

"Shh, baby," she whispered to her, kissing the top of her head and squeezing her arms around her trembling body. "Change, Quinn, just change. I'll – I'll be right here."

Quinn took a couple of deep shuddering breaths and let her body change. She laid her head in Rachel's lap as her body sagged with exhaustion. Rachel ran her fingers through the golden brown fur and watched as they eyelids drooped tiredly over the cloudy hazel eyes. She began to hum a nameless tune, hoping that Quinn would sleep through the pain and she could pack their bags for them. When she leaned her head back against the wall, she was startled to find Brittany watching them with new bandages in her hands. The blonde smiled at them and tiptoed into the room until she kneeled in front of them.

"Oh wow," she whispered, petting the lion on the head until the feline opened her eyes just barely. Brittany waved at her. "Hello, Quinn. You're very beautiful."

Quinn just blinked at her and Rachel chuckled. "Can you change back for Brittany?"

Quinn closed her eyes tiredly and, after a brief moment, she changed back to let the pain wash over her at its unrestrained intensity. Brittany went quickly to work, wrapping the mark several times before she pulled out her wand. Her eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated and she looked at the flowerpot on the window sill before nodding her head and performing the same cooling charm that Anna had used. Quinn audibly sighed in relief and Rachel and Brittany helped her to the bed, where she all but collapsed on the mattress. Rachel lied down next to her and placed her head on the blonde's shoulder, immediately falling into their usual, comfortable position.

Brittany watched them for a little bit before walking to their bedroom door. She waved her wand and the candles that illuminated the room blew out. She stopped outside the door and looked back at them.

"Don't pack," she whispered to them before she closed the door, leaving them in darkness.

Rachel listened to Quinn's still racing heart, knowing that the pain was still swimming faintly in her even though the charm was placed on her arm again. This was their life now. She didn't know what their tomorrow held. She wasn't sure of anything anymore. And since her time had suddenly become incredibly limited, wasting another second of it was one of the last things she was going to do. And they've already tried to put off their past for too long. She looked up at Quinn's face and noted that her eyes were closed. Good. It'll make this easier.

"I watched my fathers die."

It was a whisper that could've been mistaken for a small gust of wind and Quinn's body froze under her. She closed her eyes.

"I'm a muggle born and my fathers adopted me from my parents," she explained, thinking of Quinn's beautiful face so that the images of the painful memory would not flitter across her brain. "I had just completed my studies at Hogwarts and I had come home early from a friend's house one day and there were four men standing over them. My father was an Auror and they had been getting harassed for years from these men, and before I could even _think_ to do anything, they were killed."

The tears leaked out of her eyes when Quinn's arms tightened around her. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. To get through the story and bare her soul.

"I s-screamed," she whimpered out and shook her head against the skin of Quinn's neck. "And th-th-they _laughed _at me," she clutched at Quinn's t-shirt and fought against the memories, fought against the _anger _and sick satisfaction she still felt_. _After a few deep breaths she gathered her courage.

"I killed them," she whispered. Pain, anger, sadness and a variety of other emotions laced her voice, but _regret _was not one of them. "And I was found guilty of murdering everyone. Including my fathers."

The tears fell out of her eyes and the only thing keeping her from breaking down completely were the arms still tightly around her waist. She waited for Quinn to say something. She waited for Quinn to do anything to fill the silence, but she didn't. There was a kiss to her head, but that was it and she shut her eyes as she cried silently into Quinn's neck. Would she understand?

Would Quinn see her any differently?

Finally, after what felt like hours, Quinn began to whisper into her ear.

"My mother loved muggles."

Rachel immediately quieted down and waited for Quinn to continue, practically holding her breath.

"She found them fascinating. And my father was a proud Death Eater and a respected man in the Ministry. And I hated him," Quinn spoke as she kept her eyes on the ceiling above her. "I remember waking up and hearing just – just the most horrible screaming I've ever heard in my life."

Her voice cracked and she clenched her jaw as the tears flowed over the rim of her eyes. The memories were there, playing in her mind and being reflected on the ceiling like those movies that Marcy had been showing them.

"My father was in the den torturing my mother after too may glasses of firewhisky," she breathed out and could faintly hear Rachel gasp. "I tried to get him to stop. I yelled and I pleaded and I c-cried. And when he stopped the Cruciatus it had been ten _straight _minutes_."_

She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, dislodging even more tears and trying to shake off her recurring nightmares of always present memories.

"I t-tried to talk to her. She wouldn't answer me. She-she couldn't _see _me," she sniffed and shut her eyes. "She was another fucking _Longbottom."_

Rachel placed her lips against Quinn's neck and waited patiently for Quinn to continue. After another few minutes, Quinn gathered her bearing and opened her eyes again.

"I stood up and I turned to him," she began steadily, her voice empty. "It was the only time I ever used the Avada Kedavra."

A silence fell over them and Rachel leaned up on her elbows to meet Quinn's eyes with hers. Quinn glanced away from the ceiling to fall into those depths of brown and felt the relief at the absolute understanding swirling in them. They were murderers, there was not a doubt.

But in their minds, they were _completely _justified.

Quinn weaved a hand through Rachel's hair and pulled her into a kiss, sighing at the familiar, electric dance of their lips. It they were to get thrown on their asses tomorrow, then, call her cliché, but Rachel would be all Quinn would truly need to just survive. The only person who truly could understand and love her through her faults.

She wouldn't ask for anyone else.

When they ran out of breath, Rachel lied her head back on Quinn's shoulder and the blonde wrapped her arms tightly around her waist with a kiss to her head. They closed their eyes and let sleep overtake them with a smile on their faces.

But the nightmares ran rampant in their minds until the sun rose the next morning.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Chapter subject to change when I awaken. **

**So how's this story turning out? I think I'm starting to love it. **

**For those unfamiliar: The Longbottoms were tortured into insanity by a few Death Eaters. Assume that Judy became practically a vegetable just like them. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: For having not paid attention in any of my classes because I've been writing fan fiction, my grades for this past quarter are fucking fantastic. Makes me wonder about the professors.**

**Anyway, moving on to the story. A bunch of changes have been made to the previous chapters, but the main one being that Quinn is 33 and Rachel is 31. I think that's all the important stuff…I need sleep. Read. Ponder. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p>When Quinn woke up, she was cold and the woman that had fallen asleep in her arms last night was sitting at the edge of the bed facing away from her. She reached over and ran her fingers along the small of Rachel's back, grinning at the shiver that ran through the brunette. Rachel twisted around and looked down at Quinn with a soft smile, caressing the pale cheek with the back of her hand.<p>

"Good morning," she whispered. She leaned over to offer a kiss and Quinn lifted up on her elbows to meet her half way with a strained groan. Rachel frowned and helped Quinn sit up against the head board. "Are you okay?"

Quinn nodded and leaned her head against the wall, sighing with relief.

"I'm just sore," she whispered, cursing Santana and whatever the spell was that she hit her with last night. She grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her to lay down on the bed with her. "How'd you sleep?"

Rachel sighed and laid her head on Quinn's shoulder, weaving their legs together and danced her fingers over the bandage concealing the Dark Mark. After a tense moment of silence, Rachel finally answered in a whisper that tickled the skin on Quinn's neck.

"I had nightmares."

Quinn placed a kiss on top of Rachel's head and kept her nose buried in the brown hair as she watched Rachel pick at her bandage. She didn't understand Rachel's strange fascination with her mark, given that Quinn was almost positive that half, if not _all, _of the men that had killed her fathers were Death Eaters. She wrapped an arm around Rachel waist, slipping a hand underneath her shirt to caress the skin of her hip.

"I did too."

They were silent for a moment, lost in the memories of their most recent nightmares. There was no need for questions if they already knew what the other dreamt about. Rachel continued to fiddle with the cold tape on her forearm.

"They followed us."

Quinn's body stiffened under her and the hand that was caressing her hip froze. After a moment of loaded silence, the blonde nodded her head.

"I know."

Rachel played with the corner of the bandage that wasn't stuck to Quinn's skin.

"Will they stop?"

Quinn closed her eyes and sighed heavily against the crown of Rachel's head.

"I don't know."

Rachel frowned and lifted up on her elbows to meet Quinn's eyes. At the look of uncertainty in the hazel orbs, Rachel disentangled their bodies and stood up from the bed. Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and watched as Rachel grabbed their old army satchels and laid them on the bed before going over to the dresser. When she began to pull out their clothes, Quinn swung her legs off the bed with a strained groan.

"Rach – "

"We need to leave, Quinn," Rachel said firmly, shoving the arm full of clothes into the satchels before turning around to grab the rest. "It's not safe for anyone if we stay here."

Quinn grabbed Rachel's wrist before she could go grab the last few articles of clothing. "Just wait a second – "

Rachel ripped her arm from Quinn's grasp with a vigorous shake of her head and stepped back.

"Quinn, they have a _daughter,"_ Rachel hissed at her, "They have a _family. _We have no right putting them in danger when they don't owe us _anything."_

She turned around to grab the rest of their clothes and Quinn pushed herself up to her feet with a wince at her protesting muscles. She intercepted Rachel and wrapped the brunette in her arms when she tried to move around her.

"Rachel, please," she whispered soothingly into Rachel's ear as her struggles only intensified. The pale arms tightened around her. "We'll leave, okay?"

Rachel stopped struggling and pulled away slightly to look up at Quinn. "Yeah?"

"Of course," Quinn said and leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead. She grabbed the clothes out of her arm and tossed them on top of the bag. "I'm worried about Marcy, too."

Rachel tucked her head under Quinn's chin and nodded with a pout.

"She's so cute," she mumbled against her skin as she played with the hem of Quinn's shirt. Quinn chuckled and nodded.

"She is. And I don't want to get her or her mothers hurt any more than you do," the blonde whispered, breathing in the heavenly smell of Rachel's hair. "But we can't leave right now."

Rachel pulled back confused and a little angry, "_Quinn. _The sooner we leave the bett – "

"_Baby,"_ Quinn said quietly with an adoring smile and Rachel shut her mouth, her eyes shining at the term of endearment. "It's broad daylight. What do you think will happen if a lion and a cat just start roaming Vertic Alley?"

Rachel frowned and looked at the window where the sunlight was peeking through the curtains.

"Oh. Right."

Quinn chuckled and swooped down to steal another kiss. "Tonight."

Those big brown eyes widened hopefully.

"Really?"

Quinn bit her lip. It really was a lose-lose situation for them. But how many more people needed to get hurt before they could find some sort of peace?

"Yeah," she whispered and pulled Rachel's body flush against hers, "we'll leave tonight."

They stayed that way in the middle of the room with clothes littering their bed and spilling out of their bags for what felt like hours before the bedroom door opened behind them. Quinn's head snapped up and she immediately pushed Rachel behind her, but relaxed when it was only Brittany carrying a tray of food. She beamed at them.

"Good morning!" she chirped and frowned at their startled and defensive positions. She looked back at the door and smiled in understanding. "Oh, right."

She walked back out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. There were three loud knocks and Rachel giggled into the back of Quinn's shoulder

"Come in," she called.

Brittany opened the door and skipped into the room, beaming at them.

"Good morning!" she chirped again and placed the tray on their bed. Her eyes fell to their bags and she frowned. "Wait, wait, what's happening?"

Rachel and Quinn shared a worried look before Rachel cleared her throat and clasped her hands in front of her.

"We think it would be best if we left."

Brittany widened her eyes and shook her head vigorously, "No! No, you c-can't! I promised Sammy I'd help you."

Rachel frowned and crossed her arms across her chest. "Brittany, please, you know it's the safest option."

"Not for _you_," Brittany said and both girls looked away from her. She turned to glance behind her to make sure they were alone before lowering her voice. "Is this about Santana? Because if it is, I promise you she's fine with you guys staying here."

Quinn restrained her eye roll, but couldn't contain her scoff. "I'm guessing that's why you're bringing us our food instead of letting us join you and your family at the kitchen table today."

Brittany blushed and her frown deepened. Santana was very much against Rachel and Quinn eating with or spending any more time than is necessary with them. It was a . . . a . . . Brittany looked over at the bedside lamp.

Right, a _compromise. _

"She's not happy with it, no," she admitted quietly, "but she's willing to let you guys stay here."

"It's not about Santana, though," Rachel said softly with a shake of her head. "We're trying to keep you and your daughter safe. I don't know if you understand the extent of the danger that we are putting you in by just being here, but _very_ bad people are looking for us. And if any Aurors find us here, you'll all be arrested for harboring fugitives. Brittany, we're really not worth the trouble. You don't owe us your help."

"But I owe it to my good conscience," Brittany said desperately, wringing her hands together, "I don't care what anyone else says, I believe you are good people. You're nice to my little Marcy and Santana. And-and I _know _what kind of danger I am putting my family in, okay? I just f-forget easily because the sink or the tea kettle or the clock or Bamboo are telling me things and reminding of things _all the time, _and important information gets lost in the – in the jumble. But I _understand_. I know what you've done, I-I know who is look for you, and I need you guys to stay here."

Rachel sighed and sat down on the on the bed next to their breakfast. She looked suddenly very tired.

"If we stay, you will get hurt."

"And if you leave, you will _die," _Brittany retorted firmly. When neither Quinn nor Rachel chose to respond, she hugged her arms around her body and scuffed her toe against the floor. "How will you defend yourself? If you were thinking about stealing wands from the shop, don't bother because you won't be able to without Santana knowing. But if you stay, we can protect you. Just-just, please, _think_ about it."

Rachel looked over at Quinn to see her staring at Brittany in deep thought. They hazel eyes sought hers before she nodded.

"We'll think about it," Quinn whispered and Brittany let out a large breath of relief, smiling at them, "but you have to see it from our perspectives. We're trying to protect _you _as well."

Brittany nodded with a steadily growing smile.

"Of course!" she clapped and stood forward as if she wanted to grab them in a hug. "See, you _are _good people."

She let out a quiet squeal before literally skipping out of the room, leaving the bedroom door open. Quinn let out a breath and plopped down on the bed next to Rachel. She looked at the breakfast that sat on their bed and felt a pull in her heart. Brittany had a very valid point: they wouldn't be able to survive, freely or otherwise, for very long. And here they were protected and fed and kept warm.

They were nice people.

Rachel reached over and grabbed a strawberry from the fruit bowl on the tray, twisting it in her fingers.

"Are we still leaving tonight?"

Quinn looked up at Rachel who stared back at her, glanced back down at their breakfast, and picked up half of a bagel. She broke off a piece and nearly moaned at the taste as it hit her tongue. Her eyes drifted around their plain, but comfortable room that they were lucky enough to have the luxury of sleeping in. She thought back to the people who were practically strangers to them and were demanding they stay under their protection.

They truly were magnificent beings.

She sighed and nodded her head as she broke off another piece of the bagel.

"Yeah," she whispered, popping the bagel into her mouth, "I think we will."

* * *

><p>After they finished eating and doing their daily routine, they waited in their bedroom, suddenly very unsure about what to do. Usually, they would watch movies or do whatever Marcy wanted them to do. Now, after everything that happened the night before, they weren't sure where they were welcomed anymore. So they lied on the bed, curled into each other, and completely silent.<p>

Waiting.

When Santana appeared in the doorway, they stood up carefully from the bed and Quinn made sure that she stood in front of Rachel. The Latina pursed her lips and twirled her wand between her fingers as her eyes glared into Quinn's. She pointed her wand in the direction of their bed, restrained her smirk when they flinched, and their clothes flew back into the dresser as the bags lined themselves up neatly against the wall. Then she crossed her arms and stared at them, sizing them up.

"So, you're animagi?"

Quinn gave her a small nod. Santana made a humming noise that could've passed for admiration if it wasn't for the distinct look of animosity on her face.

"You'll both be in the shop with us during the day from now on," she told them, stepping forward a bit more into the room. "You'll stay in your animal forms until the store closes."

Quinn furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Rachel gripped the blonde's arm and stepped off to the side a little so her body wasn't completely behind Quinn's.

"You're really letting us stay here?" she whispered.

Santana stiffened and she narrowed her eyes at them. She glanced behind her and stepped forward a few more steps so that she stood almost toe to toe with them.

"I don't want you guys here, _at all_," she told them quietly, unblinkingly. "It is _my _job to protect my family and you are the very thing that puts them in danger. If it were up to only me, you'd probably be dead. And I'm sure I'd be doing a couple of people a huge favor."

Quinn growled and stepped forward to get in Santana's face, ignoring the wand that was digging into her stomach.

"You don't know _anything,"_ she hissed before Rachel pulled her away. The brunette stepped in front of a trembling and furious Quinn and kept a wary eye on Santana.

"If you wish to kill us then I fail to comprehend why you are allowing, or more like _forcing,_ us to reside in your home."

Santana rolled her eyes and sheathed her wand. She crossed her arms back across her chest.

"Because _Brittany, _for some reason despite the fact that she hardly fucking knows you, thinks you are 'good people'. I don't trust either of you for a second, but I love and trust my _wife_. I refuse to let this fuck up my marriage, so I will allow you to stay here if it makes Brittany happy," she told them and stepped forward so she could look them directly in the eyes. "However, if either she or my daughter gets hurt because of this, I promise I will kill you both."

She didn't blink. She wanted to give them the warning herself, because she would not hesitate if the time came. Rachel swallowed against the lump in her throat and nodded her head. She didn't need to hear Santana sing to feel how serious she was because it rolled off the Latina in waves. Quinn just stared back at her. She wouldn't expect anything less because it's exactly what she would do in her situation. Santana stepped away from them and beckoned them forward with a nod of her head.

"Change and follow me."

She watched Rachel and Quinn hesitantly transform and rose her eyebrows at how _big _Quinn's lion form was. Quite a bit bigger than any normal lion, she was sure. On all fours, Quinn's height reached to just under her breasts.

That was going to bring in a lot of questions today.

Santana led them to the living room where Marcy and Brittany were waiting for them (Quinn noticed the folded blanket and pillow on the couch), and their identical eyes brightened when they caught sight of them. The little girl gasped and hopped off the couch, rushing towards the animals. She stopped in front of Quinn and Rachel and looked to her Mama before she made any move to touch them. Santana pursed her lips and Quinn knew she wanted to say no, but one stern look from Brittany made her sigh and reluctantly nod. Marcy squealed and jumped forward to wrap her arms around Quinn who was still taller than her even when she was sitting down.

"You're so pretty," she whispered as she rubbed her face in the surprisingly soft fur. She giggled when she felt Quinn purr before she pulled away and scooped Rachel in her arms, squeezing her to her chest.

Brittany walked towards them, scratching Quinn behind her ears. "Now, remember Ducky, we're trying to hide them, so you can't call them Quinn and Rachel – "

Marcy gasped and looked up at her mommy with wide eyes. Brittany furrowed her eyebrows.

"Did I tell you?" Marcy shook her head, staring deeply into Rachel's eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry, baby. Yes, Rachel is the kitty, Quinn is the lion. But around other people– "

"How do you do that?" Marcy asked, bending over so that she was nose to nose with Quinn who was lying down now.

"Pay attention, honey," Brittany scolded softly and waited until her daughter looked up at her before she continued, "Now, around other people, Quinn's name is just 'Q' and Rachel's name is 'B' because I think 'R' just sounds silly. And it's not to be confused with 'B', _my _shorter name. Can you remember that?"

Marcy giggled and nodded her head. _Of course, _she would remember that. Who did her mommy think she was?

Santana glanced at the clock. "Alright, B will stay with Brittany and Q will stay with me. And _Marcy_," she arched an eyebrow at her daughter who was trying to crawl on Quinn's back, "you will _behave."_

The little girl nodded, smiling sheepishly, and slid back down to the floor with a small pat to Quinn's head and a whispered 'sorry' in her ear. Santana led them down to the shop about five minutes before it opened and Quinn watched Brittany take Rachel across the store to where Bamboo was sitting at the table. She made as if to follow them, but was intercepted by Santana.

"Come on," she said gruffly.

Quinn reluctantly followed Santana behind the long counter that was short enough for her to place her chin on the top. She looked around; this store was much bigger than Ollivander's. The ceilings were higher and there were three long rows of shelves with a ladder leaning up against them. The space behind the counter and between the shelves were large enough for her to lie down comfortably and still have enough room for Santana to roam easily. There was an office over in the corner where Santana probably did most of the wandlore. On the other side of the counter there were racks of wand cleaning material and sheaths and other accesories. Where Brittany, Rachel and Marcy were was almost a completely different store and obviously Brittany's personal side. There were small shelves of books about fortune telling and aura readings, along with tiny relics and medallions that could do anything from tell your future to make you look pretty.

Quinn was open to anything.

Santana reached past her head by the money box and held out a large plain leather collar. Quinn froze and glared incredulously at the smirking witch.

"Precaution. I'm sure you understand," she said as she wrapped the collar around Quinn's neck, at least having the decency to not choke her. "You can't pass the counter and you won't be able to take it off, so don't try."

Quinn growled and moved her head away when Santana finished fastening on the collar. What? Now she had to be treated like a dog? Santana rolled her eyes.

"Just be happy Brittany won't let me chain you to the fucking wall," she sneered and waved her wand at the front door to unlock it. She moved into her office, mumbling about 'stupid fucking cats' under her breath. Quinn rolled her eyes and sat down in the corner, pawing irritably at the loose collar around her neck. Suddenly, she was feeling very good about leaving tonight.

_Meow. _

Quinn looked over at Rachel who was sitting on the counter staring amusedly at her. Quinn's eyes brightened and she walked forward to place her head on the counter so she was eye to eye with the brown cat. Rachel brushed her face against hers and they purred together. Brittany was standing on the other side of the count reading a small piece of parchment and she reached over blindly to pet Quinn on the head, almost poking her in the eye.

"Sanny," Brittany called to her wife as she ran her finger down the short letter, "I'm going to stop by Artie's. He said he has some new books I might find amusing. I might also stop and grab a little bed for Q because the floor really is uncomfortable," her wife scoffed from inside her office, "Did you want me to pick up your wand ingredients from 'Cedes?"

"No, she said she's coming here to drop them off," Santana answered as she exited the office. She leaned her hands on the counter and pecked Brittany's lips in a chaste kiss, making the blonde witch giggle. "Be careful."

Brittany rolled her eyes good naturedly and gave her another kiss.

"No worrying," she said softly, "I can totally kick ass, sweetie."

"Me too, Mama!"

Santana smiled down at Marcy and held out her arms. "Give me a kiss, Sugar."

Brittany picked Marcy up and the little girl leaned over to give her Mama a big kiss on the cheek. She was able to ruffle up Quinn's ears before Brittany put her back on the ground and picked up Rachel.

"Come on, B" she giggled and placed Rachel in the basket that was hanging on her arm. "It's so funny, it's like I'm talking to myself."

They waved goodbye and Quinn watched as Rachel got carried out of the store with a heavy, pounding heart. This would be the first time since their escape that Rachel would be away from her and she didn't like. She walked around to the end of the counter and, remembering the collar on her neck, held out a tentative paw. It hit solid _nothing _and suddenly it felt like she was behind glass in a fucking zoo. She let out a small whine as she pawed at the invisible wall and Santana laughed at her.

"Yeah, I hate watching my girl leave too."

Quinn snarled and went over to a relatively empty corner behind the counter and sat down on the floor. Santana scowled at her.

"God, lighten the fuck up."

The bell hanging over the door jingled and they both turned their heads to the visitors. Santana straightened up and narrowed her eyes briefly at Quinn.

"Don't be obvious," she hissed at her before addressing the customers. "Hey, Hummel. Wheezy."

"Lopez. I got some new – what in the _hell _is that?"

The witch, pleasantly plump in beautiful purple and blue robes with a wooden box of assorted vials in her arms, stepped away from the counter and kept a wary eye on Quinn. The wizard that walked in with her, in the most fashionable vest and coat ensemble Quinn had ever seen and also carrying a box, scratched at his chin and chuckled.

"Are you really so whipped you let Brittany convince you to get a _lion?"_

Santana grimaced and tossed a balled up piece of parchment at Quinn when she snorted. "I'm _not _whipped. We didn't _get _a lion. A lion just sort of . . . popped into our home, if you will."

"And you kept her?" the wizard asked skeptically taking another step forward.

"Well, Kurt, what kind of witch would I be if I threw poor defenseless animals out into the cold?" Santana said dryly, cutting her eyes to Quinn's narrowed hazel ones.

Kurt walked up to the counter cautiously, glancing back at his friend who was still frozen in the same spot. He cleared his throat and set the box on top of the counter.

"She doesn't look very happy," he said quietly, bending down to look into Quinn's furry face.

Santana rolled her eyes and waved at the lion dismissively.

"She just hates me," she said, bored. She beckoned the witch forward and sighed when she refused with a shake of her head. "Mercedes, it's fine. She'll hurt me before she'll hurt you."

"Everyone wants to hurt you, so that's not comforting _at all_," Mercedes quipped, but approached the counter and placed the box carefully on top of it. She wrung her hands together, "C-can we pet her?"

Santana arched an eyebrow and shrugged. She faced Quinn with a pointed look.

"It's up to her."

Quinn let out a soft growl as she stared at Santana before she stood up and stretched. She could hear Mercedes and Kurt gasp softly before she stood up straight and stood next to Santana, placing her head on top of the counter. She closed her eyes as two hands ran through her fur and scratched behind her ears. She even allowed herself to purr. Mercedes was delighted.

"My God, that is amazing," she gushed, scratching under Quinn's chin, "Oh, she's massive, I want one already. How'd you get her?"

Both Quinn and Santana sighed.

"Britt's cousin sent the lion and a, uh, _kitty_ from Britain," the Latina answered with a shrug and swatted Quinn's tail when it smacked her in the hip. "They needed a home."

"That was very nice of you," Kurt said as he gave Quinn one last fond tug to her ear before he straightened up. "And by 'you,' I mean, of course, Brittany. Your heart's not big enough to produce such compassion."

Santana's lips lifted up into a half-smirk and scratched the top of Quinn's head with two fingers.

"If only you knew how big my heart really is," she raised her eyebrows at Quinn when the lion looked up at her. She patted her a little hard on the head before crossing her arms across her chest and getting back to business. "So, what do you want?"

Mercedes scratched under Quinn's chin for one more purr before turning to the box she brought in with her. She pulled out a handful of vials and set them on the table.

"I've got your regulars: dragon heartstring, phoenix feather, unicorn hair, serpent scales, all that good stuff," then she reached into the box and pulled out two more vials with a small, mischievous smile. "Then I got a great shipment of griffin claw and, oh, _Pegasus wing feather_! Super rare and I got it for cheap. And lastly," she glanced around the empty shop and leaned across the counter, producing a large glass vial from within her robes and held it out, "Basilisk fang."

Santana's eyes snapped over to the large snake fang and set down the vial of unicorn hair that she was looking at. She grabbed the vial from Mercedes hesitantly and twirled it in her hands with a look of awe on her face.

"How in the fuck did you get this?"

Mercedes chuckled and shook her head, "You know I never reveal my sources, honey."

Santana rolled her eyes and placed the vial on the counter top. Kurt picked it up and looked at it with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What's the big deal? It's just a tooth."

"A _Basilisk_ fang, jackass. They're extremely rare seeing as how Basilisk are practically extinct and their fangs are _illegal_ to have unless you're a certified wandmaker, like yours truly," Santana sprouted off before holding up her hand and putting it in Kurt's face as she addressed Mercedes. "How much do you want for it?"

Mercedes crossed her arms. "How much would you charge for a wand with a Basilisk fang core?"

Santana pursed her lips.

"Forty galleons."

Mercedes' eyes widened.

"_Forty _galleons?" Kurt nearly shrieked. Even Quinn glanced over at her incredulously. "That is _exceptionally _expensive."

Santana rolled her eyes, "Well, they make _exceptionally _powerful wands. You have to be an Auror or a damn good Curse-Breaker to even _buy _one. They can be very dangerous in the hands of the wrong people, not to mention how much of a pain in the ass it is to _make _the wand in the first place. So, how much for the large tooth?"

Mercedes tapped her chin. "How many wands can you make with the one fang?"

"This size?" Santana picked up the vial to get a close look at the rather impressive tooth. "I'd say maybe three, two for sure."

Mercedes hummed in contemplation before sighing and shrugging her shoulders in indifference.

"Since our families have been dealing to each other for centuries, I'll let you have it for fifteen galleons."

Santana shot her a genuine smile before holding out her hand.

"Thanks, Wheezy, I owe you dinner," they shook on the deal and Santana got out the galleons from the money box and dumped them in the small pouch with the other coins for the purchase. "You got my wood?"

Mercedes nodded and tilted the box so she could see the numerous neat slabs of wood left in there. She motioned at the box Kurt brought in.

"Got all the letters of the alphabet," she said as she pulled out the stacks and laid them on the counter, "from ash, to mahogany, to yew."

Santana grinned as she picked up a slab of birch and brought it to her nose. "You're the best."

Mercedes smiled and scratched Quinn on the head again. "That I am. However, you'll need to make those last."

"What? Why?"

"The guy who usually goes out to get the wood for us, I had to fire him. Is that all my money?" Mercedes said as she grabbed the coin pouch and began counting her earnings. Santana frowned.

"And why did you fire him?"

"He got arrested," Kurt explained as he looked at his fingernails. "Got caught trying to break into Artie's. Don't ask me why of all places."

Santana rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, annoyed.

"So, what am I supposed to do? Go out to get the wood myself?" When they just smiled at her, she held up her middle finger, "That's for you. The both of you. And what did you want, Glitter?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and flicked the hair away from his face. "I can't just come in to say 'hi' to my old friend?"

"Sure," Santana said with a shrug before she glared at him, "but you didn't do that. You came in here, made fun of me because of Q, and then y –"

She glared at Kurt as he placed his hand on the counter and started guffawing. Mercedes brought a hand up to hide her giggles. The wizard held up his hand and caught his breath before speaking.

"Y-you _named _her?" he burst into another fit of giggles even when Santana reached over to shove him in the shoulder, "That-that's – you _care_!"

Quinn sat down on the floor and looked up at Santana with her lips subtly lifted in a smirk. She was decidedly enjoying this after all. Santana scowled at her and nudged her hard with her hip, but even that didn't wipe off that smug look on Quinn's face.

"I didn't name her, _Brittany _named her," she sneered as she waved her wand over the piles off wood and gathered all the vials in her arms. "My heart's not big enough for _that much _compassion."

They watched her storm into her office with the wood floating behind her, mumbling to herself under her breath, and Kurt shook his head and walked around the counter to bend down in front of Quinn. He ran his fingers through her fur and scratched along Quinn's neck with a smile.

"I'm sorry you're stuck with her," he whispered, chuckling when Quinn began to purr. He stood up and Santana glared at him from the doorway to her office, her arms firmly crossed over her chest.

"You're bothering me," she said, shooing him to the other side of the counter. The bell over the door rang again and another witch walked in, pausing like Mercedes had at the sight of Quinn. Santana waved her over with a soft smile before turning to scowl at her two friends. "Well, if you really came here to say 'hi,' you guys can leave. I have customers."

Kurt and Mercedes smiled at the customer and moved away from the counter to make space for her to walk up. Kurt waved at her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Karvaski," he said politely and the elderly woman beamed happily at him as she stiltedly made her way up to the counter with his help.

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Hummel, Mrs. Jones," she said, her voice reminding everyone in the vicinity of their favorite grandmother. "How's the shop, young man?"

"The shop's doing well, ma'am," he said as he grabbed the empty boxes on the counter for Mercedes, "Will I be seeing you in there soon?"

The older witch nodded her head, "Oh yes, I have to get new dress robes for my granddaughter's wedding. You'll be able to help me with that, yes?"

Kurt smiled down at her, "Of course. I'll have a dress already picked out for you."

The witch squealed with delight, gripping Kurt's forearm with bright eyes.

"You're a good man."

Kurt chuckled and placed a kiss on her cheek before holding out his arm to Mercedes.

"And if I ever have a daughter, I hope she grows up to be as wonderful as you," he chuckled at the squeal that tumbled from the woman's lips again. He waved at her as he led Mercedes to the door, "I'll see you soon, Mrs. Karvaski."

"Of course, of course. Goodbye, dears," she waved back at them excitedly, "You tell your husbands I said 'hello.'"

"We will!" they chirped together as they exited the shop, already chatting amicably with each other.

Mrs. Karvaski chuckled and turned around to smile at Santana and Quinn. "They're good kids."

"Hmm. Sure," Santana said dryly, but still smiled politely at the elder woman, "How are you today, Mrs. Karvaski?"

"Oh, I'm good, I'm good," the witch answered with a wave of her hand. She reached over and scratched Quinn behind the ears with a soft chuckle. "I see that lovely missus of yours swayed you into yet another unique purchase. That woman has you wrapped around her finger, dear."

Santana stepped on Quinn's tail when the lion snorted again, the polite smile still pasted on her face.

* * *

><p>Brittany, Rachel and Marcy came back shortly after Mrs. Karvaski left with a couple of new books for Brittany's side of the store and a large, fluffy circular pillow for Quinn that they placed in the back of one of the aisles with a clear view of the counter. Quinn couldn't explain the happiness she felt when Rachel came through the door; she actually stood up on her hind legs with her paws on the counter to greet Rachel with a proper lick to the face, which the cat returned before Santana shoved Quinn back onto the ground.<p>

After watching a few customers come in and how Brittany and Santana worked together to serve them, they had lunch (separately, again) and Marcy stayed upstairs for a nap while Quinn and Rachel settled down for their own on Quinn's new bed. They could've only been asleep for a couple of hours when the sound of voices roused Quinn awake.

"You got a fucking _lion?" _

Quinn barely slid her eyes open to see three wizards and a witch standing behind the counter talking with Santana and Brittany. One of the wizards, the one with the mohawk, was laughing and three hands reached out to slap him in the head. Brittany shushed them.

"They're sleeping," she whispered loudly, waving her hand back at the felines. Quinn could feel the deep breathing of the cat burrowed into her chest and under her arm. Rachel was still asleep and Quinn figured she must've not gotten a lot of it last night. She glanced back over at the counter and strained her ears to hear their conversation.

"How did – what – how?" the tallest wizard asked, looking over at them with a tilted head. Brittany smiled at him.

"We're taking care of them. They're super sweet."

"Yup. Super sweet," Santana said bored as she glanced at her fingernails, "So, what are you and Puck doing here? I specifically called for just Mike and Tina."

"Well, Finn, here," Puck, the mohawked wizard, clapped the taller man on the back, "needs some advice from the teddy bear – "

"Bamboo," both Finn and Brittany corrected him.

"Yeah, Bamboo, right. And _I _need a new wand," he brought the broken pieces of his wand out of his coat pocket, "because Finncompetent over here stepped on it. We thought we could make it a group field trip."

Mike, the other wizard, rolled his eyes, "They invited _themselves."_

"We even tried sneaking away," Tina quipped and glared at Finn's sheepish smile.

"Great. Finn, go tell your problems to the bear while Brittany and I go get Puck a new wand," Santana said as she let Brittany drag her to the end of one of the aisles, stopping just next to Quinn and Rachel. The lion closed her eyes and feigned sleep.

"You _called _them?" Brittany hissed at Santana as she put her ear to one of the boxes.

"I had to," Santana said quietly as she crossed her arms over her chest as Brittany moved her head to another one. "_Death Eaters _came into our shop, Britt. They pointed their wands at me. And I didn't give them what they wanted, so it's likely that they'll come back. It's safer that we called them."

"But they're Aurors," Brittany whispered as she climbed up a couple of rungs of the ladder to listen to the boxes on a higher shelf. Quinn felt Rachel stiffen next to her and she hugged the small cat closer to her body. "And we have two fu – "

"_Brittany_," Santana shushed her, glancing at the three people behind the counter, conversing quietly with each other. "I know. But we _had_ to call them, okay?"

Brittany looked down at her and sighed, reluctantly nodding her head.

"I know," she whispered and pulled out one of the long, skinny boxes from the shelf and handed it to her wife, "That's the one."

Santana smiled and grabbed the box, helping her wife down from the ladder. She pecked her lips in a chaste kiss. "Thank you. And I'm sorry for not telling you."

"Apology accepted," Brittany said happily and kissed her again before skipping away to join Finn, who was talking quite seriously to Bamboo.

Santana walked back over the Aurors and tossed the box at Puck who caught it. "Twelve inches, oak, dragon heartstring. Thirteen galleons, don't fucking break this one."

"You're a doll," he said as he took the wand out of the box and tested it out by conjuring a shot of firewhisky. He downed the drink, pulled out the galleons from his pocket and dumped them on the counter. "Works perfectly."

"I know it does," the Latina said with a roll of her eyes and turned her attention to Mike and Tina. Mike chuckled and nodded his head at her.

"So, what's up?"

Santana glanced around the momentarily empty shop before leaning forward to whisper to them. Quinn and Rachel strained their ears to hear.

"A couple of Death Eaters came into my shop last night."

Tina gasped and Mike and Puck furrowed their eyebrows.

"Why?" Puck asked, pocketing his new wand.

Santana shrugged. "They were looking for someone."

"Did they say who?"

Santana pursed her lips and looked over at Brittany who was watching her intently. She sighed.

"Quinn Fabray."

Rachel whined softly and burrowed her head into Quinn's neck. She didn't like this, she wanted them gone. She wanted to leave. Quinn nudged her with her head and she opened her eyes to meet calm hazel ones. She gave the lion a lick to her muzzle before tucking herself under Quinn's chin.

"Oh, that name sounds familiar."

"She's a Death Eater," Mike said, crossing his arms over his chest. "One of the ones that escaped from that prison. Do you know her, Santana?"

She looked him in the eye.

"Never met her," she said, turning her head to see the felines she knew were listening in her peripherals. Tina shook her head.

"Why would she be in America? Voldemort is still in Europe."

"Unless she's trying _not_ to be where he is."

"None of that matters," Santana said with a roll of her eyes, "I just don't want any more fucking Death Eaters coming into my store ever again."

Puck waved her off. "Don't worry about it. This isn't the first Death Eater sighting in recent weeks. We've already got Aurors patrolling _everywhere."_

"No, I want your fucking word," she said, leveling him with a glare that made him straighten up, "They will not come _anywhere_ near my family."

Mike nodded his head. "I personally will patrol Vertic Alley myself if I have to."

Santana looked at all three of them, noting the conviction in their eyes, before relaxing. Finn and Brittany came over, both with large grins on their faces. Puck sighed

"So what did the bear say?"

"It's my anniversary tomorrow."

Puck rolled his eyes. "You'd forget to brush your own teeth if it wasn't for that fucking bear."

Brittany made a noise of indignation. "He has a _name!"_

Mike chuckled and grabbed Finn and Puck's arm to pull them away from the counter. "We'll be around."

"Thanks," Santana called to them and they waved at her before leaving. Quinn and Rachel both breathed a sigh of relief and the Latina looked over at them with a shake of her head. She pursed her lips and glanced at Brittany out of the corner of her eye. "Please, don't make me regret that."

Brittany wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed her cheek with a soft smile.

"Never."

* * *

><p>After the shop closed and they ate their dinners, Rachel and Quinn took a shower together and sat on the bed with their packed bags between them. Everyone else had already fallen asleep, so they should leave. That was the plan. But they weren't moving. Quinn glanced at Rachel and the brunette looked to be struggling with herself.<p>

"Rach," she whispered and Rachel froze. She reached over to grab her hand. "Are we leaving?"

Rachel looked at her, her eyes tearing from the frustration and exhaustion of the entire situation. She stood up and paced a little, wringing her hands together. Quinn reached over after a minute of silence and wrapped her arms around Rachel, stilling her and pulling her to stand between her legs.

"Rach," she whispered again and waited for the brown eyes to meet hers. "Are we?"

Rachel frowned and reached up to run her fingers through the blonde tresses.

"We should. Someone will get hurt if we stay, I just know it."

Quinn arched an eyebrow. "But?"

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows and leaned their foreheads together. Her hand fell to Quinn's forearm and touched the bandage that covered the Dark Mark. It was already beginning to feel warm under her fingers. They'd need to change it tomorrow.

"We'll die if we leave."

Quinn pulled slightly away to look up, needing that eye contact. The tears were rolling down Rachel's cheeks and her hand caressed the blonde's cheek.

"Rach – "

"I-I can't lose you, Quinn," she whimpered and shook her head. Just the thought made her sick. "I just – I just found you."

Quinn wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist, swiped their bags to the floor with the other, and laid Rachel down on the bed. The brunette reached out and grabbed Quinn's shirt, pulling her to lie down with her. They melted together, like they always did, and Quinn waited until Rachel's tears stopped soaking her shirt. She placed her mouth next to Rachel's ear and closed her eyes.

"We'll stay," she whispered. Rachel nodded against her neck. It was the best choice. They'd be safe. They'd be taken care of.

It was the selfish choice.

Quinn opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling above them. She slipped her hand under Rachel's shirt and felt her breathing begin to slow.

"I'll never forgive myself if anyone got hurt," she said quietly. She buried her noise into Rachel's hair. "If someone does, we leave."

She waited for a response, but the soft, even breath on her neck told her that Rachel had dropped off to sleep. She sighed, clenching her eyes closed against the tears. She hated this.

What had she gotten them into?

"And if you get hurt," she whispered to the sleeping body on top of hers, tightening her arms around the petite waist, "I'll leave you, too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Remember when I said the outline was pretty much all done? Well, because of the response I didn't expect to get, I'm changing a few things to flesh the story out. I hope that's alright. Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Okay, sorry for the lateness. After I wrote And When the Sun Sets, it took me a very long time to get back into HP! Faberry mode. But I finally finished this chapter. And I will warn you, half of this chapter is written on thirty six hours of no sleep. And the whole thing is proof read on thirty six hours of no sleep. So hello mistakes, I hope to catch you in the morning. **

**I'm so happy I don't watch the actual T.V. show. From what I gather about the recent episode "Choke," the best scene is the scene with Quinn in it. It sucks when a bad tv show has your OTP. Because not only does the show suck, but if they were to try and actually make the relationship canon, they'd probably fuck it up. Because they wouldn't know what to do with Faberry. **

**Only the Faberrians know what to do with Faberry. **

**I need sleep. **

**Read. Ponder. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>There were three small knocks on their bedroom door, so faint that Rachel was actually surprised it woke her up. She looked tiredly over her shoulder at Quinn and found her furrowing her eyebrows at the noise but still very much asleep. Rachel smiled and squeezed the arms that were wrapped tightly around her waist before sliding out of bed. Her feet padded softly over to the door and was surprised when she had to look down to see their visitor. Rachel dropped to her knees to stare into Marcy's wide watery eyes and frowned.<p>

"Marcy?" she whispered, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer, "What's wrong, sweetie?"

The little girl sniffed and rubbed her face into her stuffed duck to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. She shook her head and took a couple more steps forward until she could place her head on Rachel's shoulder.

"I had a bad dream," she whispered with a sniff.

Rachel frowned and rubbed her hands soothingly up and down Marcy's back. "D-do you want to go to your mothers?"

Marcy shook her head and brought her arms up to circle around Rachel's neck.

"I-I wanna stay here."

Rachel bit her lip and her eyes drifted down the hall to Santana and Brittany's bedroom. If anything, she knew Santana would be less than thrilled if she found her daughter sleeping with the "evil murderers" that were living in her spare room.

But how could she even think to turn Marcy away right now?

She sighed and grabbed the little girl's hand. With a finger to her lips, Rachel pulled Marcy into the bedroom, closed the door and they tiptoed back to the bed. Rachel slipped under the covers next to Quinn and Marcy climbed on top of the bed with them. They laid their heads on the same pillow facing each other and Rachel could feel Quinn snake her arm around her waist, burrowing her nose into the back of her neck.

Rachel reached over and tugged at the stuffed duck's beak with a small smile.

"What did you dream about?"

Marcy furrowed her eyebrows and brought the blanket up to her chin.

"Big three headed snake," she whispered with a frown, "that roared and burned my Mama's clothes."

Rachel bit her lip to contain her giggles because the nightmare was obviously still bothering Marcy.

"Well," she said quietly and tapped the tip of Marcy's nose with a smile, "We won't let any three headed snakes burn your clothes tonight."

"Not _my _clothes, my _Mama's _clothes," Marcy corrected with a tiny smile.

This time, Rachel did chuckle. "Or your Mama's clothes. You're safe here."

Marcy bit her lip and shuffled forward so that their faces were closer together. Her big blue eyes were still teary.

"Rachel?" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

Marcy sniffed and averted her eyes to the duck clutched in her arms.

"Are we friends?"

Rachel frowned and she could feel Quinn tighten her arms around her waist. She knew Quinn's been awake since she left the bed to answer the door and was listening closely to their entire conversation.

"Of course we are," Rachel whispered, her heart nearly breaking at the watery hopefulness shining in Marcy's eyes as she looked up at her. "Why would you think we aren't?"

Marcy wiped her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't – you guys d-don't eat with us. And-and-and you guys don't," she bit her lip and turned into the pillow to hide her face. "You-you don't watch any m-movies with me any-anymore. Not f-for _weeks. _"

Rachel's heart was officially broken. Did Marcy really think that? That they had stopped liking her? Quinn gripped the t-shirt covering her stomach and Rachel reached over to tilt Marcy's chin so that she looked at her. She tapped her nose again with a wavering, but genuine smile.

"You're our bestfriend, Marcy," she whispered reverently. Marcy sniffed and those blue eyes searched Rachel like there were words written on her face.

"Really?"

"The _bestest_," Rachel assured and reached over to grab the little girl's hand. "If it were up to us, we'd watch movies with you all day."

"Then w-why don't you?" Marcy whined softly with a pout.

Rachel hesitated. Marcy's so . . . _innocent_. And she may be selfish, but Rachel didn't want to plague their image by telling the truth of their sordid pasts. At least, not now. Not when she just told her that they were best buds. But lying to your best friend? About as painful as heartbreak.

Skimming the truth? Well, sometimes it's worth it.

"It's not safe around us," she told her carefully and Marcy hung on her every word like a little monkey. "And while your Mama has made some very threatening remarks that make living here quite uncomfortable, I don't fault her for keeping us away from you. The last thing we want to happen is for you to get hurt. You understand that, right?"

Marcy just stared at her, playing with Rachel's fingers. Her eyes didn't move as she looked into the brunette's and then she nodded her head with a comprehending hum.

"Rachel?"

"Hmm?"

"You talk funny."

Rachel's eyebrows shot up in surprise before she laughed quietly. She could feel Quinn shaking with silent mirth behind her. She shrugged.

"Y_ou _talk funny," Rachel whispered and Marcy giggled with a vigorous shake of her head before covering her mouth to hide her yawn. Rachel smiled adoringly at her. "Go to sleep, honey. It's very late."

Marcy yawned again and nodded her head with a mumbled, sleepy, "Good night." Then, in an act that surprised Rachel, she scooted forward and tucked her head under Rachel's chin, wrapping her arms around her waist. Rachel stiffened briefly, that surge of trepidation at touching Santana's daughter running through her body, before she allowed herself to relax. She lulled Marcy to sleep by humming softly in her ear and Quinn's hand moved from her stomach to lace with hers behind Marcy's back. The blonde shifted behind her and kissed her on her neck just below her ear.

"You sound beautiful," Quinn's whispered. Rachel smiled bashfully; she's very used to compliments on her voice, but she hasn't sung for anyone _or _herself in over a decade. Not since Azkaban.

Not since her fathers were taken from her.

But that soft whisper in her ear about nothing more than her humming warmed her very soul and she leaned back into Quinn's body with a sigh. She bit her tongue to hold in the confession that had been bubbling in her throat for weeks. It wasn't the time. Not now.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Quinn smiled and kissed Rachel's neck again. She understood her.

And she knew she felt the same.

* * *

><p>Rachel woke up a few hours later and was startled to find two people cuddled up to her before she remembered that Marcy had joined them in the middle of the night. That trepidation was back and she didn't feel much like dealing with Santana's irrational anger this morning. Maybe if she hurried she could have Marcy back in her own bed before Santana went in to wake her up. Rachel sat up in the bed, sliding her arm carefully from under Marcy's head, and stretched until her shoulders popped. She grabbed the pale hand that was on her hip and brought it up to her lips to kiss the palm before laying it down on the pillow by Quinn's head. As quietly as she could, Rachel slipped out of the bed and picked Marcy up with a strained groan and turned to the door.<p>

"Hey."

Rachel turned around and Quinn held up Marcy's stuffed duck, her eyes barely open. Rachel smiled and grabbed it from her.

"Right, of course," she mumbled, "can't forget the duck."

Quinn chuckled sleepily as she snuggled her face into Rachel's pillow. "That would've been just _tragic._"

Rachel giggled softly to herself and walked out of the room to Marcy's, humming quietly to herself. As gently as she could, she set Marcy down on her own bed with a soft kiss to her forehead. The stuffed duck was placed in the little girl's arms which, even in her sleep, hugged it closely to her chest. She smiled as she brushed the hair away from Marcy's eyes. Maybe today they could spend a little more time with her, even if they wouldn't be able to speak to her. That would be ni –

"What are you doing?"

Rachel popped up and spun around with a startled jump. Santana stood in the doorway with an arched eyebrow and her hands on her hips. She didn't look angry which was a relief, just cautious, but mostly curious. Rachel cleared her throat.

"She had a nightmare and came to our room in the middle of the night," she explained quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. "She wanted to stay with us."

Santana eyed her briefly before she leaned in the doorway with a small smirk.

"Well," she drawled, "for future reference, sneaking her back to bed in the morning doesn't make you look any less suspicious."

Rachel shrugged, significantly more relaxed now that Santana was actually joking with her.

"I figured you wouldn't be very happy had you found your daughter with a couple of hooligans. Am I right?"

"Rather you two than a couple of boys," she whispered under her breath and Rachel giggled softly. Santana looked away. "Thanks for taking care of her, I guess," she mumbled.

"Yeah, that was super nice of you, Rachel."

Santana turned around to find her wife smiling proudly at her. She blushed and was in the middle of rolling her eyes when she caught sight of Quinn standing in the doorway of her and Rachel's bedroom, just watching her. Like she always did, making sure she wouldn't bad mouth her little troll.

"Oh, it-it's not a problem," Rachel mumbled as squeezed by Santana with a timid smile. "You're very welcome."

Brittany bounced on her heels and waved at Rachel when she walked by her. "I'll bring you guys your breakfast in a few minutes."

Rachel smiled brightly at her over her shoulder in a silent thanks. Santana and Brittany watched her skip into Quinn's arms, immediately turning the blonde's attention on her. They shared a kiss and Rachel pulled a smiling Quinn into the bedroom. The blonde met Santana's eyes one more time before disappearing from sight, talking quietly with Rachel. Santana nearly gagged at their sickening show of affection even as Brittany cooed next to her. She turned to her wife and blushed again at the look she was giving her.

"I was being nice," she grumbled as she walked to her daughter's bed to wake her up. Brittany giggled behind her as she followed Santana into the room.

"I know," she chirped, kissing Santana's cheek from over her shoulder and wrapping her arms around her waist, grinning at the small smile that blossomed on her wife's face, "And I'm very proud of you."

Santana looked over her shoulder to kiss Brittany gently on the lips. She's making progress with these people, slowly but surely. She gripped the arms circling her.

"Only for you, baby."

* * *

><p>Quinn sat nervously behind the counter as Santana and Brittany spoke privately in the Latina's office. Rachel was sitting between her front legs, probably just as anxious as she was and Marcy sat on the counter next to them. Santana had blown through the wood she bought from Mercedes and, since a good amount of her wands were transferred and sold in places beyond Vertic Alley, she needed to replenish her supply as soon as possible. A Lopez technique that had been passed down from generation to generation was to always get their wood from the wild, the seeds untouched by human hands, and Santana had been itching to go for a week now. Wandlore, as Quinn had observed, was as much a hobby to Santana as it was a job. If she wasn't making wands then she was stuck just selling them and bitching about everything that happened to annoy her. It was definitely an addiction.<p>

The sooner they got this wood, the sooner everyone felt like they wouldn't kill Santana in her bloody sleep just to shut her up.

The only problem that came with Santana's short leave from the shop as she hunted for the wood was that Quinn was forced to go with her, which meant that not only would she be away from Rachel for _hours, _but she'd be _far away _from her for hours. She couldn't stress how badly she despised this plan, especially since she'd be stuck with the witch that she hadn't been able to get along with in the entire month that they have been here.

If the two of them came back in one piece, it was a definite cause for celebration.

Santana walked out of her office with one of the old army satchels over one shoulder and Brittany followed behind her with a red collar in her hand. She knelt down in front of Quinn, removed the black collar that was around her neck and replaced it with the red one with an apologetic glance.

"I'm sorry, Q, I know how much you hate the collars," she whispered with a soothing pat to her head. "It's a law though, especially since you're considered an 'exotic' animal. _But!" _she smiled,_ "_We found a way around having to keep you attached to a leash. This," she fingered the collar, "is connected to the band around Santana's wrist. You'll only be allowed about twenty feet from the wearer and she'll have the ability to pull you back if she so desires, but I made Santana promise me she'll be gentle and let you have some freedom. Okay?"

Quinn looked up at Santana who was leaning against the counter and observing her nails with the most bored expression possible. She sighed at the red bracelet around the witch's wrist and nodded her head with a soft growl. Brittany smiled at her and kissed her on the top of her head before standing up and kissing her wife on the lips.

"You'll behave?" she whispered. Santana rolled her eyes.

"Of course," she kissed her wife again and then waved at Quinn. "Well, come on, we got a long day."

Quinn frowned and looked down at Rachel who had stiffened against her. The cat looked up at her with shining eyes and Quinn's heart broke. She looked up at Brittany and Santana, hoping that they could understand what she was asking for. Just a minute, that's all she needed. Santana pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at them, but at the nudge in her side she sighed in annoyance.

"Make it quick," she growled at them, "You can use the office."

Quinn nodded at her and stood up, leading the way to the office. She waited until Rachel walked in before nudging the door closed with her head. Her body changed and she turned around to immediately find herself with an arm full of Rachel. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the brunette's shuddering form. After a moment, Rachel pulled away with a shake of her head and wiped at her eyes.

"Merlin, I'm sorry," she mumbled with a soft, watery chuckle. "I don't mean to be so clingy."

Quinn smiled at her and leaned forward to capture her lips in a chaste kiss. Her hand cupped Rachel's cheek when she pulled away.

"I'll be back, you know," she whispered. Rachel reached up to grab the hand on her cheek, her eyes wide and frantic.

"But you'll be gone for _hours _and I won't know where you are and it scares me," she said, her voice cracking. She stepped forward, pressing their bodies together and tucking her head under Quinn's chin, "I'll just miss you."

Quinn chuckled and placed a kiss on the bed of brown hair.

"I'll miss you, too," she whispered, rubbing her hand up and down Rachel's back as the brunette played with the loose red collar still around her neck. She wanted to stay like that for a very long time, but she could practically feel Santana's impatience seeping into the room. With a sigh, she pulled away and kissed Rachel again with a small look of regret. "I have to go."

Rachel frowned but nodded her head. She leaned up to capture Quinn's lips in a brief, but passionate kiss before pulling away with a blush. She looked up into the hazel eyes and Quinn gasped silently. The emotions swirling in those brown orbs were so intense, it staggered her heart. She bit her lip to contain her words, but her heart pounded with them. She grabbed Rachel's hand a brought it to her lips, keeping her eyes connected with Rachel's. A tan hand reached up to caress her cheek and the air around them thickened and crackled with electricity. It was absolutely _magical. _

Only to be ruined by the pounding on the door.

"_Let's go!" _Santana shouted through to wood, "The sooner we leave, the sooner you can come back and see the midget, alright? We won't even be gone for a freaking _day_. _Merlin!_"

Quinn growled in annoyance and Rachel rolled her eyes at the nickname. They shared one more kiss before opening the door and morphing back into their respective animals. They walked back to the counter and Quinn stopped in front of Marcy who grinned down at her happily. She placed her head in the little girl's lap with a purr and Marcy squealed. She hunched herself over and wrapped her arms around Quinn's head in a tight hug, cooing nonsensical sounds into her ear. Quinn gently knocked their heads together before following Santana around the counter. The Latina leaned over her daughter with a loving smile that looked odd on her face.

"My little spoonful of sugar," she brushed their noses together in an Eskimo kiss and Marcy giggled. "You'll watch over the shop with Mommy and B while we're gone?"

"Mhm!" Marcy nodded her head with a big smile. Santana chuckled.

"That's my girl," Santana whispered and placed a kiss on Marcy's forehead. "I'll see you later, sweetie."

"See you later, Mama," Marcy repeated.

Santana gave one last kiss to Brittany who was watching them with a smile.

"Bye, baby," she whispered against the blonde's lips. "I'll see you before the sun sets."

"Be the carefulest," Brittany told them with a pat to Quinn's head. Santana chuckled and pecked her lips once more before turning around and walking to the door. Quinn was able to share a couple of departing licks with Rachel before a force like a leash yanked her to the door. She growled, glared at Santana who smirked at her from the front door and she stalked towards her with a snarl. The Latina snickered as she held the door open for Quinn. "Santana, you be nice."

Quinn snorted when she walked past a frowning Santana and stepped out, for the first time, into the relatively busy streets of Vertic Alley. She hadn't been to Diagon Alley in nearly a decade, but she was sure it looked almost exactly like this. The cobblestone roads, the variety of shops, all ultimately leading up to a big white building that must've been the American branch of the Gringotts Bank. They might as well have stepped out into London.

"Yeah, all the Alleys look the same," Santana confirmed her silent suspicions and brushed by, nodding at her to follow. Quinn tried to stay as close as possible to the brunette witch, which wasn't necessary since everyone seemed to part for them as they gawked at her. The news of the lion at the wand shop had spread and Quinn had become some kind of spectacle in a month. Some people came into the shop just to see her which pissed Santana off to no end sometimes.

They passed Kurt's one story boutique across the street, Artie's Books, and a bunch of other unique little stores; Quinn tried to take in everything at once. Who knew when the hell she'd be allowed out here again? They walked by the Quidditch store that had a Firebolt laying in the display case and Quinn nearly stopped walking all together just to stare at the beautiful broom, but she trudged forward reluctantly. Santana looked down at her and chuckled.

"I actually feel like a fucking badass walking with you," she said quietly, smiling at some of the wizards and witches that walked by them. "You should stay a lion all the time."

Quinn rolled her eyes and nudged Santana's hip with her entire body making the Latina stagger sideways. Santana, surprisingly, just laughed it off. They stopped at Mercedes' Apothecary and Santana held the door open for the lion. Quinn walked in and her eyes had to adjust to the dim light and a clash of different smells abused her nose. There were numerous glass jars filled with various substances in the glass display case under the counter along with a bunch of potion ingredients all shelved on the walls and throughout the store. Mercedes and a very attractive man with dirty blonde hair stood behind the counter in deep conversation. Santana cleared her throat and they snapped their heads to her in surprise, a bright smile on Mercedes' face.

"Oh my goodness, you brought her!" she squealed and circled around the counter to drop down to her knees in front of Quinn. She scratched Quinn behind her ears and along her neck and the lion's rumbling purr filled the store. Merlin, that felt good. "Louis, come here."

Louis eyed the lion that was way too close to his wife for a moment before shaking his head. "No thanks, I think I'm good right here."

Santana chuckled as she walked up and leaned her elbows on the counter.

"I've never pegged you to be scared of big cats."

"Funny, Santana," Louis said dryly with a grin, "and why am I not surprised that Brittany convinced you to keep a lion? Didn't you say that you weren't getting anymore animals after the unicorn fiasco?"

"Have you ever been able to say no to Brittany?"Santana asked with a roll of her eyes. Louis thought about it before furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head. "Now, imagine being her wife."

Both Mercedes and Louis gave her amused sympathetic looks. Louis patted Santana's hand with his.

"I would feel sorry for you, but I know you love it," he rolled his eyes when Santana smirked and then nodded over at Quinn. "At least she's well trained."

"She's more than well trained," Mercedes gushed as she continued to pet Quinn, "She's almost human."

"Too fucking human," Santana mumbled as she picked at her nails. "Am I going to get some service in here or should I just exercise my five finger discount?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes as she stood and walked back around the counter.

"How may we serve you?" she drawled.

"Finally," Santana smirked and reached into her pocket to pull out a coin purse. "I need some fairy eggs and wood lice."

"Ah, for the Bowtruckles," Mercedes said as she bent down to grab Santana's purchases from under the counter. "You're going to get your wand wood."

Santana nodded.

"Just a few. Ash, cedar, fir, holly, redwood. Maybe some willow if we have the time. I promised Britt I'd be home tonight," she handed the coin purse to Louis, "That's all yours."

"Thanks."

Mercedes handed over a couple of jars filled with the wood lice and the fairy eggs. "And that's all yours. You know where to go?"

"Yeah, yeah," Santana assured as she placed the jars carefully in the satchel, "Britt got me some pictures of the forests that are said to have wand trees. Hopefully they're enough for me to apparate there without fucking splinching myself or Q."

Quinn snapped her head towards Santana from her place in front of Bezoars. No one mentioned the possibility of being splinched. Santana just shrugged at her. Mercedes waved her hand dismissively.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Be careful though, you don't know what kind of weirdos are in those forests."

Santana rolled her eyes and turned around to leave. "Yeah, thanks, that's comforting. Bye."

"Oh, wait, wait," Mercedes stopped them before turning to her husband and grabbing his forearm. "Come on, honey. Just pet her once."

Louis looked apprehensive when Quinn walked forward and sat in front of the counter. Santana sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Seriously, man, she's never bitten anyone and we've had her here for over a month. Nicest lion you'll ever meet, I guarantee you."

Louis rubbed his hands together nervously before reaching out patting Quinn on the hand. When he went to snatch his hand away, Quinn leaned forward to rub her face against his hand and purred. The wizard relaxed and smiled as he began to pet her with more confidence. Santana glanced at the clock on the wall, beginning to feel impatient.

"Alright, we're going to go before you become obsessed like your wife. Q," she called and Quinn turned to her, "come on."

Quinn licked at their hands before turning to follow Santana's out of the store. Just before the door closed she could hear Louis tell his wife, "We are _definitely _getting one."

Santana led them out of Vertic Alley, through the throngs of gawking witches and wizards to the forest that surrounded the town. She pulled the satchel from her shoulder and pulled out two small vials filled with clear, shimmering liquid. She popped one open and drank its contents, grimacing at the extremely sour taste.

"Fuck, that's awful," she grabbed Quinn's chin and the lion stepped away from her with wide, suspicious eyes. Santana rolled her eyes. "Calm your tits; it's obviously not fucking poison. We'll be apparating a lot today and much farther than what is healthily recommended. It's a very strong motion sickness potion so unless you want to puke up your guts, I suggest you let me pour this down your throat."

Quinn eyed the vial before she stepped forward, tilted her head up and opened her mouth. Santana poured the potion down Quinn's throat and she almost gagged. Fuck, that _was _awful. Her eyes squeezed shut against the sourness and when she opened them Santana was snickering at her.

"Yeah, but you'll thank me," she shouldered the satchel and took out her wand from the sheath strapped around her waist. The witch grabbed the scruff of Quinn's neck. "You ready?"

Quinn closed her eyes and nodded. Santana looked around her before copying Quinn and imagining the first picture clearly in her head. With a step forward and a twist, they popped out of sight.

It had been _years _since Quinn had apparated and it felt like her fist time all over again. After feeling like she was being sucked through a tube the size of a drinking straw, even the potion couldn't prevent the staggering head rush. Santana stumbled and caught herself on a tree next to her. She shook her head and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt perfectly fine after only a few seconds. She straightened up and grinned at Quinn who was just gathering her bearings.

"Thank you, Brittany," she whispered and Quinn grunted softly in agreement. Santana waved her wand, muttered a spell under her breath, and a misty trail billowed up from the ground, showing them the way through the redwood forest they appeared in. Quinn was in awe at the towering, thick trees that surrounded them. She's never seen anything like them.

"Welcome to California. You just traveled all the way across the country in about five seconds," Santana explained as she scanned the area of any threats. "Muggles come here to visit and camp pretty often so they have repellent charms all over the place."

They walked for only a short while when they came up to an enormous redwood tree. Quinn could see small creatures about the size of her human hand peeking at them through the small hollow that they had domesticated in the trunk close to the roots. Santana walked forward cautiously and pulled out the jar of wood lice. She poured out a line and the Bowtruckles, about seven of them, came out and began to feast on them with their long, needle like fingers. Quinn bent her head down to get a good look at their tiny wooden bodies and one of them turned around to look at her curiously, reached out its finger and would've poked her directly in the eye if she didn't scramble away. Santana laughed at her as she walked to the tree.

"Don't get too close, some of them like to be playful," she told Quinn.

The lion moved away from the tiny creatures and sat down next to Santana. The witch was mumbling a very long, complicated spell under her breath and drew a bright blue rectangle into the tree bark. She held out her hand and the plank of wood toppled onto her waiting palms. It was thick like a book and left an ugly scar in the tree. With another wave of Santana's wand, the hole in the trunk glowed a bright orange until the tree was as good as new. Santana kissed the tips of her fingers and then pressed them to the new bark.

"Thank you," she whispered and Quinn stared at her. Santana blushed and cleared her throat. "What? My dad always said to thank that which supplied you with your necessities. You're telling me you never followed any of your father's old footsteps?"

Quinn stiffened and her eyes lost its playfulness in an instant. Santana dropped her small teasing smile and arched her eyebrow at the sudden change. She shook her head and brushed past Quinn, leading them away from the tree.

"Forget I asked," she mumbled and stopped them when they were about twenty feet away from the still feasting Bowtruckles. She grabbed the back of Quinn's neck. "Ready?"

Quinn avoided Santana's eyes by shutting her own and nodded. They disappeared with a faint pop.

* * *

><p>Rachel lay on the window sill of the shop, watching the people walk by. Marcy was taking her nap and Brittany was helping a couple with their wands at the counter so she finally had a moment to herself. She placed her head on her paws and sighed. It had only been a few hours and she already missed Quinn something fierce. She could only hope that they returned home before the shop closed. She couldn't help, but feel . . . empty without Quinn here. She rolled her eyes at herself.<p>

Well, that just made her sound like a pathetic lovesick kitten.

The bell above the door rang and a woman walked in. She gave a small wave to Brittany behind the counter before moving to the small circular table to sit across Bamboo just a few feet away from Rachel. The cat returned her gaze to the window, but snapped her head back when the woman began to sing under her breath.

"_There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea. You became the light on the dark side of me."_

Rachel lifted her head up as she read the woman. There was such a feeling of confusion and insecurity running through the witch, Rachel could feel tears of frustration building in her own eyes. She was startled when a pair of arms picked her up and _meowed_, grabbing the attention of the woman. Brittany smiled at her.

"Hi, Melissa," she said softly, "Did you need to speak to Bamboo?"

"Yes," Melissa whispered with a small smile, twisting her hands together nervously in her lap.

"Well, you can talk to him while I speak to my associate," Brittany lifted Rachel's paw in a wave. She giggled and started walking to the office. "We'll only be a minute. Don't worry, Bamboo is a super good listener."

When she closed the door to the office, Brittany set Rachel gently down onto the floor. She smiled down at her.

"I need to ask you something."

Rachel changed after a small hesitant pause and crossed her arms over her chest. She smiled shyly at Brittany. "Yes?"

"You read her," she said matter-of-factly. Rachel nodded. "What did you feel?"

Rachel bit her lip. She's never disclosed such information to anyone that wasn't the person she's reading. She considered it a form of etiquette. But then again she had no way to disclose such information to Melissa anyway. And Brittany was already acting as a messenger for Bamboo so, she supposed, there would be no harm in telling her.

"She's scared that Finn wants to leave her."

Brittany leaned against the wall and frowned. "Why?"

Rachel shook her head. "She doesn't really know. She knows that he loves her. She can feel it deep in her heart. And she knows that, logically, she has no reason to doubt his love. She's just . . .," Rachel shrugged her shoulders, "insecure. I'm sure Finn spends a lot of time at the Ministry, being an Auror and all. And he seems to be very forgetful. I assume that gets her mind settling on conclusions that, in reality, are just ridiculous."

Brittany furrowed her eyebrows and hummed in contemplation. "I see. Come on, let's go see what Bamboo picked up."

Rachel morphed back into a cat and Brittany picked her up. They left the office and Brittany sat down at the table across from Melissa, placing Rachel in her lap. She smiled gently at the witch before grabbing Bamboo and lifting him to her ear. She nodded her head a few times, hummed once or twice, then placed him back on the table with loving pat to the head. She reached over and grabbed one of Melissa's hands with both of her own.

"You need to speak with Finn," she said quietly. Melissa frowned and opened her mouth to object, but Brittany cut her off, "Bamboo has kindly informed me that if you keep this fear to yourself it will fester and begin to infect your marriage. Finn's not always home and is sometimes as forgetful as I am, but Finn loves you very much and everything he does is to try to make you happy. If you don't think he's succeeding in that then you need to tell him. Because he thinks he's doing an awesome job."

"He _is_," Melissa insisted quietly. "He's so caring and loving, even if he's not the brightest. He makes me the _happiest_," she bit her lip and shook her head, glancing down at her lap. "I just hope I'm enough to make him the happiest as well."

Brittany smiled at her and patted the back of her hand.

"You're wonderful and beautiful, Melissa," the blonde assured her. "_Everyone_ knows that. You just need to know it too."

Melissa's bit her lip nervously. "So I should just go talk to him? Tell him that – that I'm scared he's going to leave me one day?"

Brittany nodded. Then she smiled excitedly. "Oh, unless you want me to tell him for you! I'm really good at that stuff."

Melissa chuckled and shook her head fondly at Brittany.

"No, that's okay," she whispered. She took a deep breath. "Honesty is the key to a long lasting marriage right?"

"I'm pretty sure I put that in my vows."

The other witch smiled. She nodded her head and stood up. "I'll go talk to him."

Brittany beamed and stood up as well, placing Rachel on the table. She grabbed Melissa in a tight hug with a small, happy squeal. "You guys will be just fine."

Melissa smiled.

"Thank you, Brittany," she whispered when she pulled away and patted Rachel and Bamboo on the head before walking towards the door. "I'll come tell you how things worked out."

Brittany smiled at her and waved her off. She turned back to Rachel with a large, excited grin and she reached out and scratched the cat under chin until she purred.

"That was fun," she said, clapping her hands together. "We should do this all the time."

Rachel just purred again.

* * *

><p>Santana and Quinn apparated to their last destination about a half hour before the sunset. They travelled practically all around the country for four different types of wood and at times it took them hours to find the tree whose wood had the magical properties to make the wands. After the incident at the first tree, their journey had been filled with nothing but silence. Quinn had been ignoring Santana and the wandmaker was far beyond bored. She looked around them as they followed the misty trail through the fir forest; they haven't run into anyone the entire journey and she couldn't take this fucking silence. She cleared her throat.<p>

"You know, this walking quietly thing kind of sucks," she said, kicking a small stick on the ground. "We're alone. Maybe we could talk."

Quinn let out a sigh and changed without pausing her pace. She shoved her hands in her pockets.

"What do you want?"

"What do you think?"

Quinn pursed her lips. "If I knew, I wouldn't have asked."

Santana rolled her eyes.

"What's your story?" she said as if it were obvious, which it was. When Quinn didn't answer, Santana shrugged. "Or I could just come up with my own conclusions about you."

"I really don't care what you think," Quinn mumbled.

"Well then, great," Santana said as she sped up her steps to keep up with the blonde, "So you're a cold blooded murderer who's hiding like a pussy from some punishment you probably deserve. And, oh, don't even get me started on Rachel," she said, smirking at the twitch in Quinn's eye, "I bet she's an evil little thing. I bet deep down inside she's a more vicious bitch than you are, if the newspapers are tru – "

Quinn growled and spun around, slamming the Latina into a neighboring tree and getting right into her face.

"Shut your fucking mouth," she whispered coldly. Santana scoffed and swiped Quinn's hands off her shoulders.

"I thought you didn't care about what I think."

"I don't care what you _think_," Quinn said, clenching her fists, "I do, however, care about the bullshit you say to my face."

"Well, you fucking shouldn't," Santana snapped at her, pushing Quinn's body away from hers until she stumbled backwards. She let out a small laugh of disbelief and shook her head. "I let you live in my house at the cost of me and my family's lives, and the _only _thing that I know about you is that you're an escaped convict and a _murderer_. You are literally _tattooed_ with a sign of _evil_. What do you honestly expect me to think of you? Why should I give you _any _benefit of the doubt?"

Quinn dropped her eyes to the ground and stayed silent because, as much as she hated to admit it, Santana had a point. How could she fault Santana for thinking something that could quiet possibly be true with the information that she had access to? Santana waited only a little while for a response before she rolled her eyes and walked away, checking Quinn's shoulder with her own when she passed her. She got a few feet away when Quinn spoke up in a whisper.

"My father tortured my mother into insanity," she explained emotionlessly, making Santana freeze. "So, I killed him."

Santana looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling very guilty about her insensitivity. She crossed her arms over her chest. "And the mark?"

Quinn sighed and turned around to start following the misty trail again.

"It's the result of having to follow in my father's old footsteps."

Santana deflated as she watched Quinn walk slowly away, almost defeated. _Now, _she felt like a bitch. In her defense, she had every right to be cautious and assume the worse, but that didn't make her feel any better. She sighed and closed her eyes with a shake of her head.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she followed the blonde.

"Don't worry about it," Quinn whispered.

Santana bit her lip and tapped her fingers against her thigh. She cleared her throat.

"What about Rachel?"

Quinn stopped in her tracks and turned around to meet Santana's eyes.

"Rachel didn't belong in Azkaban," Quinn told her slowly and seriously. "That she was there for as long as she was is an example of how awful the world is."

She turned around and began walking away, and Santana was momentarily stunned. She blinked and jogged to keep up with the blonde.

"What happened to her?"

Quinn just shook her head. Santana shrugged; it's not like she expected to get an answer anyway. Quinn cared more about the midget than herself. She looked up to the sky and chuckled before glancing over at the blonde.

"You've fallen in love."

Quinn closed her eyes and changed, completely ignoring Santana. The Latina smirked and they walked in silence for a moment. She sighed.

"You're an idiot if you think she doesn't feel the same," Santana said nonchalantly. She shook her head with a chuckle. "Girl worships the fucking ground you walk upon. Go figure, right?"

Quinn looked up at her and Santana shrugged. She scratched the lion behind her ears before shoving her hands in her coat pockets and averting her eyes with a small blush. They walked in a more comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts about each other. Then Quinn stopped suddenly, lifting her head up in attention. Santana immediately whipped out her wand and looked around them, straining her ears.

"What is it?"

Quinn's eyes darted everywhere. It was a faint hissing, but when she really listened for it, it seemed to be coming from several different sources, all in the same area. Her eyes floated over the leafy ground and there, under the green and a fallen pile of rotting and mossy wood, she caught a glimpse of the head of a snake. She growled, grabbed a hold of the back of Santana's jacket with her teeth and began to pull her away in the opposite direction. Santana looked down at Quinn and the followed her eyesight, whipping her wand at the snake. It slithered out of its hiding spot and Santana cursed under her breath.

Three heads. Six eyes glaring directly at them.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Santana mumbled backing up as its large six and a half foot body revealed itself. She knew this snake, she – shit, _shit_, what was it called? "Come on, let's get the fu – "

There was a faint pop behind them and Santana spun around in time to just barely block the curse the man threw their way. She eyed his clothing, the black bandana around his neck and scowled. A fucking bandit. Quinn crouched low to the ground and bared her teeth, growling threateningly at him. Santana looked nervously over her shoulder at the still approaching snake. She could take the bandit, no problem; she just didn't want to deal with the snake. She reached down and grabbed the scruff of Quinn's neck.

"Q, come on," she whispered.

They stepped backwards and the man quickly brought up his wand shooting two spells at them, one quickly right after the other. Santana blocked one and the other hit her in the chest, causing her to let go of Quinn as she stumbled back, completely out of breath. Quinn let out a tremendous roar that scattered the birds in the tall pine trees above them and launched herself at the wizard, knocking him onto his back. He yelled in pain as her claws pressed deeply into his skin and placed his wand to her side. She flew backwards, feeling as if she was kicked brutally in the ribs and, strangely enough, the first thought that went through her mind was: 'Shit. Rachel's not going to be happy about that.' The bandit turned to his stomach and began to crawl away with shaking gasps of breath, drips of blood trailing down his arms.

Santana grabbed at her chest, feeling a bruise where she knew there really wasn't one, and snapped her eyes open at the loud hissing right behind her. She let the strap of the army satchel slide down her arm into her hand and she spun around, swinging the bag and the heavy wood in it into the middle head. The snake backed off with a hiss, the middle head hanging lifelessly towards the ground, giving her a reprieve, but at the cost of the sharp pain that shot through her chest. The two side heads struck out at her and she was able bring her wand up in time cast a spell at the left head, slicing it clean off the body. She was only able to pivot enough that the fangs of the other head just scratched her right shoulder.

But the pain was still _unbelievable. _

Quinn struggled to her feet and lurched onto one of the wizard's legs, digging her claws into his calves. He yelled out again when his skin tore as she pulled him back, but when Santana's piercing scream of pain rang through the air, the lion snapped her attention towards the Latina. She let the man go without a moment's hesitation and raced towards the brunette, ignoring the bandit as he popped quickly out of sight. She skidded to a halt behind the snake, clamping her teeth into its tail. She pulled it away from Santana who was struggling with her jacket, still crying out with tears of pain rolling down her cheeks. Quinn let go of the snake when it turned its attention to her and she crouched low, waiting for it to strike with the only head it had left. Its agility was greatly diminished as its body began to shut down so when the right head struck out at her slowly, she gave it one strong hit to the face with her massive paw, feeling the tiny bones snap at the impact. It fell to the ground with a hiss and gave up the fight, slithering weakly back to the hole that it came from, but died before it got there.

Quinn changed and ran as quickly as she could with the pain still in her ribs to Santana, falling to her knees next to her. She helped the brunette with her jacket, taking it off to get a good look at the injury. Two thin scratches, flaming red with the small gashes rapidly widening and billowing smoke. Quinn dropped her eyes to the jacket in her hand and noticed the tear in the fabric was beginning to burn away. She snapped her head up at the shaky mumblings and found Santana pointing her wand at the growing burn with her left hand.

"Santana, _no!" _she snatched the wand from her grip and held her back when she tried to grab it.

"_Give me my fucking wand!" _Santana shouted at her and Quinn pushed her back roughly.

"I'm trying to help you!" she yelled. She pointed at the bright orange snake with the black diamonds on its back, "Do you have _any _idea what the fuck that was? How fucking _serious _this is?"

Santana stared at her blankly, breathing rapidly and she tried desperately to understand the question over the burning pain. Yes, yes she knew that name. "R-R-Runespoor?"

"_Exactly_," Quinn hissed, keeping the wand high out of reach. "You use a spell on your arm, you use _any _magic _whatsoever_ and you'll make it ten times worse. Just-j-just _wait, _okay? I have to – to think."

Santana threw her head back and roared with pain that tapered off into devastating sobs when she fell to her back. Quinn stood up, her mind working twice as fast, but any solution she could come up with they just didn't have the supplies for.

They needed help.

She closed her eyes and thought of the petite woman with brown hair and wide, expressive eyes.

"_Expecto Patronum," _she chanted, feeling the magic flow through her arm for the first time in eight years. A burst of white light shot out of her wand, taking the form of a lion identical to herself.

It sat at her feet as it waited for instructions.

* * *

><p>Rachel was on edge as she watched Brittany pace frantically by the circular table. The sun had set; Santana had promised to be home by then. The blonde had just closed the shop early, right when she felt the first sting of trouble a few minutes ago.<p>

"Something's not right," she mumbled under her breath. She shook her head, "We have to help her. We-we – they need our help."

Rachel stepped up to Brittany and grabbed her arms to still her pacing.

"Brittany, please," she whispered. "You're starting to freak me ou – "

Brittany looked down at her confused with she stopped and followed her eye sight to the window where a white form was racing towards them. Brittany ran to the window and opened it, letting the lion patronus float into the store. Rachel felt the smile creep onto her face.

"Quinn."

The patronus opened its mouth and the blonde's voice rang out.

"_We were attacked. Santana has been bit by a Runespoor. We're in a fir forest in West Virginia."_

Brittany's eyes instantly watered when the patronus disappeared and she shook her head vigorously.

"R-Runespoor? I don't know wh – "

Rachel rushed towards the cash box and grabbed a quill. She turned over a copy of a receipt and began writing down ingredients to a remedy she remembered from her studies at Hogwarts.

"I need you to get these from Mercedes', okay?" She glanced up at Brittany to see her nod her head and quickly approached her. She finished the list and handed it to the blonde, "Quickly because the poison acts really fast. You might want to take Marcy there too."

Brittany nodded, called Marcy who came racing down the stairs, and they left the store in a hurry, locking the door behind them. Rachel ran into Santana's office and grabbed a mortar and pestle and a small empty glass jar. She closed her eyes and ran through the steps until she was positive she still had them down pat. She could do this. She knew she could.

All she needed to do was wait.

* * *

><p>"<em>Fuuuuuck!" <em>

Quinn held Santana down to the ground, hovering over her. She used all of her weight to try and settle the violent thrashings of Santana's body. From what she could understand from the near incomprehensible shouts and mumbles coming from the pained witch, everything was burning, from the scratches on her shoulder down to the tips of her toes and all the way back up to the top of her head. What were once just mere scratch marks had grown into deep, bloody gashes and a yellowish pus had begun to seep from the wounds. It had been twenty minutes since she sent her patronus.

She could only hope her S.O.S. made it to Brittany and Rachel.

"Q-Quinn, Quinn _please," _Santana sobbed, gripping at Quinn's jacket while, at the same time, trying to buck her off of her body. "You _have_ to d-d-do something. _Anything! Ah, _God! It hurts, anything, p-p-please!"

"Shhh, okay, we're waiting for help," Quinn assured her gently, grabbing her wrists and forcing them down by Santana's head when the Latina arched up with another shout of pain. "Any minute now, I-I-I promise."

Santana shook her head back and forth with a long whine. "It hurts so bad, Quinn! It-it-it hurts _so bad!""_

"I know," Quinn whispered, eyeing the gashes that burned even more, "You're going to be fine, just fine."

Her ears pricked up at the faint pop, fairly close to their location. She opened her mouth to shout out to whoever it was, when Santana did the job for her with a loud agonizing cry. She could hear the pounding footsteps rushing her way as she tried to restrain the brunette.

"Quinn!"

Quinn's heart sped up at the sound of Rachel's voice and she turned to look over her shoulder as Rachel and Brittany ran towards them, the light from Brittany's wand illuminating them, similar looks of panic on their faces.

"_Sanny_," Brittany whimpered as she slid on her knees cradling Santana's head as the brunette cried to her, clutching at her shirt and her hair.

Rachel dropped to her knees next to Quinn and opened the jar filled with a light blue substance. Brittany and Quinn, who whispered the spell to illuminate the tip of Santana's wand, provided light for Rachel.

"I need you both to hold her down," she ordered softly and she put on the latex gloves she pulled out from her pocket. She ripped the shreds of Santana's shirt enough to clear the wound for her to work on it. "Alright, Santana," she said gently with a placating smile at the witch who didn't even seem to know she was there, "there are two ways that I know of how to care of a Runespoor bite. One takes a week and is more or less painless while the other takes ten minutes, but I hear it is really quite excruciating. I figured you would want the former."

Quinn let the small smile creep onto her face as she glanced up at Rachel. Still caring and gentle, even under the worse kind of pressure. Rachel scooped up a dollop of the substance onto her fingertips.

"This is a magic repellent cream I concocted very quickly before we apparated here," she explained quietly as she smeared the substance on and into the gashes, smiling when Santana immediately began to settle. "The venom feeds and festers on the magic that surges through your veins. The cream removes the magic from whatever you spread it on and repels any outside magic from entering. Hence the name. Without the magic, this just becomes a regular snake bite or, I guess in your case, two nasty, but plain gashes on your shoulder."

She put a generous amount of cream over Santana's wounds and when the Latina finally stopped shivering, she took off her gloves and reached into another pocket of her coat and pulled out some gauze with first-aid tape. She bandaged Santana's shoulder and wiped away the dried blood and pus with the damp sleeve of Santana's already ruined jacket. When she was finished, she smiled at her handiwork.

"Are you still in terrible pain?" she asked Santana who was blearily blinking her eyes at her. She just shook her head. "Well, that's very good. You'll need to change the bandage and reapply the cream twice a day for an entire week or until the wounds close completely. Your magic may not be top-notch, but it'll pass when everything is healed. Then a simple scar removal paste should make your shoulder good as new. It's a good thing the fangs only scratched you. I can only imagine how much more excruciating it would have been if the snake seriously bit you."

Brittany and Quinn helped Santana sit up who winced at the small aftershocks in her arm and the throbbing pain still in her chest. She looked up at Rachel who was still smiling at her and she completely understood what Quinn was saying earlier.

Rachel was literally too_ pure _to be considered anything but.

She held the dark brown eyes with her own.

"Thank you," she whispered and Rachel bit her lip to contain her squeal. She placed a small hand on the Latina's forearm.

"You're very welcome."

After they helped Santana get up, Brittany turned to Quinn and Rachel and pulled them into suffocating hugs. She squealed her gratitude into their ears and they could only pat her on the back and laugh. Brittany wrapped an arm around Santana's waist.

"I'll apparate us home," she said as Santana laid her head tiredly on her wife's shoulder. She reached over to Quinn and took the red collar off of her neck. "Do you think you'll be able to apparate home with Santana's wand?"

Quinn nodded. "Definitely. I'll just grab the wand wood and we'll see you there."

Brittany smiled brightly at them before disappearing with a soft _pop. _Quinn leaned against a tree with a tired sigh and Rachel tiptoed around the dead snake to grab the dropped army satchel.

"I've never seen a real Runespoor before," she said quietly as she stared at it in the light from Santana's wand. "I didn't know there were any in America."

Quinn shook her head. "There aren't. The bandit must've gotten it off the black market. Trained it pretty well, too."

Rachel bent down to look into the snake's remaining faces and hummed.

"Big three headed snake that burned my Mama's clothes," she mumbled. Quinn smiled.

"I know."

Rachel giggled. Innocent little Marcy.

She stood up and wiped her hands on her pants.

"You did quite a number on it."

Quinn shrugged and pushed herself up from the tree. "Santana got rid of the first two heads. It was already dying by the time I got to it."

Rachel shouldered the army satchel and walked over to Quinn.

"And what about the bandit?"

Quinn smirked and wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulders. "I scared him off."

"I bet you did," Rachel teased, kissing Quinn's cheek and then her lips. The blonde's heart was racing in her chest and she loved it. She tightened her arm around Rachel's shoulders

"Did you take the motion sickness potion?"

Rachel grimaced. "Merlin, it tasted _appalling_."

Quinn chuckled and nodded her head in agreement. "You ready?"

Rachel nodded her head and stood up straight, an intense concentrated expression on her face. Quinn was absolutely smitten.

"By the way," she said quietly as she closed her eyes and pictured Brittany and Santana's kitchen clearly in her head, "You were very impressive today."

Rachel smirked. "I was Head Girl for a reason, Quinn."

Quinn chuckled.

"Of course you were."

She placed a kiss on Rachel's forehead before they popped out of sight.

When they arrived in the kitchen back in Vertic Alley, they were staggered. Quinn gripped the counter and grimaced when Rachel stumbled right into her bruised ribs. That, unfortunately, didn't go unnoticed by Rachel. The tiny brunette placed the bag of wand wood on the counter and placed her hands on her hips.

"You're hurt."

Quinn arched an eyebrow. "A tiny person just ran into me."

"Lift up your shirt."

"What? No," she frowned. "Santana's right there."

Rachel looked at Santana sitting at the kitchen table next to them drinking a cup of water. The wandmaker smiled at them and Rachel waved her off.

"She doesn't care," she reached over, slapped Quinn's hands away from her stomach and pushed her shirt up. She gasped at the deep purple bruise covering the blonde's ribs. "_Quinn."_

Quinn sighed. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

Rachel rolled her eyes and poked the bruise lightly with her finger. Quinn gasped in pain and then rolled her eyes at Santana when she laughed. Rachel sighed and shook her head.

"How in the world did you get that?"

Quinn just shrugged her shoulders.

"Saving lives."

Rachel poked Quinn lightly in her bruise again and the blonde hissed. Rachel could practically feel how uncomfortable Santana was behind them. Now was not the time to tease. She cleared her throat and turned back to Santana.

"Do you have any bruise removal paste?"

Santana nodded and pointed behind her. "Bathroom."

Rachel smiled and skipped away to the bathroom, leaving Quinn and Santana in an awkward silence. Quinn dropped Santana's wand in front of the brunette and turned around to wash her hands, concentrating very hard on trying to get the dried blood from her between her fingernails. Santana sighed and downed the rest of her water, setting the glass on the table. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I owe you," she whispered. "Thank you."

Quinn paused briefly before continuing to wash her hands.

"You're welcome."

Quinn turned off the faucet and dried her hands on the dish rag. She froze when Santana spoke again.

"My promise still stands."

Quinn nodded her head. She wouldn't expect any less.

In fact, she kind of hoped it would stand forever.

She turned around and sat down across from Santana.

"If you hurt Rachel," she whispered, her hazel eyes cold and promising, "I will kill you."

To her surprise, Santana just smiled at her. She patted Quinn's hands with her own.

"That's love, blondie."

Footsteps sounded on the stairs leading from the shop and Santana closed her eyes in relief. Brittany had gone back to Mercedes' to pick up Marcy and bring her back home. She's missed her family so much today.

This day fucking sucked.

A gasp sounded next to her and she looked over to see Quinn's face pale as she stood up from the table. Santana turned her head to find Puck standing in the entryway to the kitchen, the most dumbfounded look on his face. He shook his head, pulled his wand from his sheath and pointed it at Quinn.

"_Incarcerous."_

Ropes shot out of the tip of his wand towards Quinn, binding her wrists and her feet and gagging her. She toppled to the floor and looked up at Puck, his wand pointed directly in her face.

"By the order of the Ministry of Magic," he smirked down at her, "you, Quinn Fabray, are under arrest."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So much for short chapters. **

**I hate Finn. I hate Finn so much I almost wanted to cut the entire Brittany, Rachel and Melissa scene. But then I though, fuck canon!Finn. I'm just gonna make a fucking Finn I like. So that's what I'm going to do. Blaine too, because I was going to cut him out as well.**

**Also, if you aren't a Harry Potter fan and you're still a fan of this story then you're fucking awesome. That is the power of Faberry, I guess. **

**Okay. Good night. **

**Wait, first I have to watch Once More With Feeling. **

**Then good night. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I would like to apologize. I am so sorry for not updating sooner, especially when there was such a cliffhanger from last chapter. I have my excuses…but they really don't bring back the four months of silence from me. So just know that I was very busy, however I had been working my butt off on this chapter. There's a lot of dialog, but it's all necessary for the progression of the story. **

**And this might not be taken as good news, but this chapter is technically part one of a two parter. Why? Because the chapter was over 20,000 words and I wasn't even finished with it yet. And I just felt so bad about leaving you all hanging (I hope you guys are still with me), so I decided to split it into two parts and you guys can finally find out what happened after Puck arrived to ruin shit. So here is part one. I hope this was worth the wait and if it's not…it's only part one. And I've got a bunch of ideas still for the next part. Those of you who've followed me while I was writing ES know that it sometimes takes a while for me to put out a chapter. But good news: it's already half way done. **

**So here you go. Read. Ponder. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Quinn shut her eyes as Puck hoisted her up from the floor. <em>No. <em>No, no, no_. _This couldn't happen now. She wasn't ready. Things were finally starting to get a little better. It-it wasn't fair_._

She never got to tell Rachel . . . _everything_.

It just wasn't fucking _fair._

"_Puckerman," _Santana growled as she shot up from her seat with a pained wince. She leaned her hands on the table, her fingertips brushing against her wand. "What the _fuck _do you think you're doing here?"

"Well, at first I came here because Britt said you were hurt. But now," he grinned as he tilted Quinn's chin up with the tip of his wand, "I think I'm making me 35,000 galleons."

Santana chuckled humorlessly and picked up her wand before walking stiltedly over and pushing him away from Quinn. She maneuvered the bounded blonde to lean against the counter so she wouldn't fall and turned to face Puck with a shake of her head.

"I can't let that happen."

The wizard dropped his smile and furrowed his eyebrows, completely taken aback.

"You are _high _if you think you're going to stop me from taking this bitch in."

"And you're an _idiot _if you think I won't gladly kick your ass before you do that," Santana whispered harshly, all playfulness gone from her eyes.

Puck arched an eyebrow, his mouth slightly open in disbelief. He looked from Santana to Quinn, back to Santana, and then looked at the kitchen table where he had found them. Just sitting there. Not arguing, not fighting, not in any sort of danger.

_Sitting _and _talking. _

"What the fuck is going on here, Lopez?" he whispered seriously with a shake of his head. "You-you're harboring a fugitive?"

Santana sighed. "It's not like that – "

"Oh, it's _not _like that?" he stepped around Santana and turned Quinn around to see her arms that were bound behind her. He arched an eyebrow at the bandage and peeled it off, dropping it hastily to the floor when he discovered it to be smoking and burning away in the shape of the Dark Mark branded on Quinn's arm. He looked back up at Santana. "Because it really does fucking look like it."

Quinn's eyes snapped open. The pain was so harsh and building rapidly to a blinding climax she almost immediately passed out. She cried out behind the gag over her mouth and her eyes blurred with tears. The pain had been getting worse _daily, _so much soit now required a stronger cooling charm as well as a numbing paste to keep her from losing her mind. The Dark Lord had long since lost his patience with Quinn.

And he was making sure she was _very _aware of that.

Santana pushed Puck away from Quinn with her good arm and got right into his face.

"It's _not _like that," she sneered. "I know what I'm doing, okay? This situation isn't about just winning 35,000 galleons."

"You're right," Puck said, standing up straight so that he could look down at the raven haired witch, "it's about keeping wizards like her off the fucking streets. The same wizards that you _demanded _be kept away from your store and you're hiding one in your _house."_

"And if she was dangerous do you honestly believe that I would allow her to stay _here?"_ she asked roughly, incredulously.

Puck opened his mouth to retort when more footsteps sounded on the stairwell. They both turned to watch Brittany and Marcy skip happily into the house and pause at the scene in the kitchen. Marcy, her smile dropped, rushed forward to Quinn and pulled at her restraints with a whine. Puck moved his arm as if to point his wand at the little girl and Santana brought her own up so the tip dug deeply into his stomach.

"Don't you _dare _raise your wand at my _daughter_," she growled angrily, low enough that Marcy couldn't hear her. Puck immediately dropped his hand, but didn't take his eyes off of them.

"Quinn?" the little girl murmured, still pulling fruitlessly at the ropes. She looked up at Santana with frantic eyes. "Mama, what-what's wrong? Quinn's hurt."

Brittany walked over and put a hand on Marcy's shoulder, leading her away from the other blonde. She kneeled down to look in her daughter's eyes with a serious expression.

"Ducky," she whispered, "I need you to go wait in the living room, okay?"

Marcy frowned and looked at her with big worried and confused blue eyes. "B-b-but I don't understand. What's wrong with Quinn?"

Brittany shook her head.

"_Nothing _is wrong with Quinn," she said sternly, but with a soft, reassuring smile on her face. She kissed her forehead and nudged her towards the other room. "Now, go. Mama and I have to talk to Uncle Puck really quick."

Marcy stared into her mother's eyes expressionlessly. Then she moved away and ran towards Quinn, hugging the silently crying witch's legs tightly before she pulled away with a small blush and all but ran into the living room with the stuffed duck clutched in her fist. Brittany watched Marcy until she was out of sight before taking out her wand and walking forward carefully. She ran her eyes worriedly over Quinn before snapping her eyes to Puck.

"What's going on?"

Puck cleared his throat, fidgeting nervously under Brittany's glare. Santana rolled her eyes.

What a pussy.

"He's trying to arrest Quinn."

Brittany's eyes widened in a panic and she shook her head looking from her wife to Puck and back.

"N-no," she said, grabbing a pained Quinn and pulling her away from where Puck and Santana were still facing off. "You can't do that!"

Puck looked between the two witches and narrowed his eyes. He sheathed his wand and held up his hands, stepping away from them. There was definitely something going on that they were keeping from him, but with one look at Brittany's wand poised for battle, he knew he didn't want to fight.

He could never fight them.

"Okay," he said slowly, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table and taking a seat. "I think we really need to talk about what the fuck has been going on around here lately. Civilly."

Santana and Brittany shared a look before the raven haired witch walked around the table and sat down in the seat she vacated when Puck appeared. They turned to look at Brittany who was still shifting anxiously next to Quinn.

"Baby?" Santana called over to her. Brittany wrung her hands together.

"A-are all of these-these _restraints_ really necessary?"

The two witches turned to look at Puck and he rolled his eyes before waving his wand at Quinn, getting rid of the gag and all of the ropes with the exception of the ones binding her wrists behind her back. Quinn immediately pitched forward with a cry of pain and Brittany caught her in her arms. She moved Quinn to sit in the chair that was already pulled away from the table. Quinn hunched over the table top and shut her eyes, shaking and crying. Brittany bit her lip and sat down next to her, placing her hand softly on Quinn's head and putting her chin on the table to whisper soothingly into her ear.

Puck crossed his arms across his chest and the four of them sat in silence, save for the comforting whispers and pained whimpers. Santana leaned back into her chair and pursed her lips as she waited for someone to start talking. Next to her, Brittany suddenly quieted, slowly lifted her head up and looked at the hallway with a frown. She cut her eyes to her wife's and Santana pointed her wand behind her back to cast an immobilizing spell at where she knew Rachel was freaking the fuck out on the other side of the wall. She just knew that if things made a turn for the worse, Rachel would bust in the kitchen and make things worse if she didn't do something to make sure she'd stay put. Immediately, the two gashes on her shoulder seemed to awaken and shoot a burn down her entire arm, making her hiss in pain. Puck furrowed his eyebrows in concern and leaned forward.

"What is it? What happened?" he asked worriedly, reaching over to place his fingers on the bandage on Santana's shoulder. The Latina slapped his hand away before he touched her with a scowl, the pain already disappearing.

"Don't touch it, you fool," she sneered. "It's a Runespoor bite."

"Runespoor?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Here?"

Santana shook her head and dropped her wand on the table like she was angry with it. That fucking piece of shit.

"I ran into a bandit in West Virginia while I was looking for wand wood," then she leaned back in her chair and arched an eyebrow with a small smirk, nodding her head in Quinn's direction. "I probably would've died if it weren't for the woman you're trying to arrest."

Puck looked over at the hunched witch and sighed. This Death Eater _saved _Santana? That was almost laughable. He shook his head.

"Why are you guys protecting her?" he asked quietly. Santana pursed her lips; she's asked herself that question for a month.

"Because we were asked to," Brittany answered him, still watching over Quinn and running her fingers through her hair. "I don't like to turn away beings that need help."

"Even if they're known killers?"

"She won't hurt us."

Puck rolled his eyes. "No, she'll just leave that to her Dark Lord."

Santana scoffed and shook her head.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," she said, leaning forward a little bit. "That mark on her arm is literally torturing her and it's only been getting worse every _single _day. I'm sure she could put an end to that if she just joined her 'Dark Lord' again and she _doesn't_."

Puck scowled angrily. "And it never crossed your mind that she's just playing you?"

"Of course, it's crossed my fucking mind. If you think, for a second, that I would allow someone with her history just to stay in my home without a fight then you are a _fucking _idiot," she snarled and Brittany placed a hand calming hand on her arm. The blonde shook her head at Puck.

"The Death Eaters have been searching for her ever since she left Azkaban," she explained quietly, logically. "Why would she hide from them and skip off to a foreign country? Consider her sacrifices; it just wouldn't make any sense if she was really working for Voldemort after all this time. What does she honestly gain by being here?"

Puck drifted his eyes to Quinn who seemed to be on the very verge of passing out. "Protection and freedom from Azkaban?"

"And how do you know she deserved to be there in the first place?"

Puck snapped his attention to Santana and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Santana shrugged. "I mean, honestly, what do you know about Quinn's past?"

Puck narrowed his eyes challengingly.

"What do _you _really know about her past? Because I know you don't get branded with that mark unless Voldemort feels that you _deserve_ it and that doesn't mean getting good fucking grades in school."

Santana opened her mouth to respond, but found that she had nothing to fight that. She _didn't _know Quinn's dark past and she had her doubts that even _Rachel_ knew everything. She looked over at Quinn, the witch she had hated for so long, and found that she really didn't anymore. How could you hate someone after they saved your life, especially when you have given them no reason to? So, no. She wasn't going to let Quinn get arrested.

She had a shady past, but what kind of boring ass person didn't make mistakes in their life?

"Everyone strives for redemption eventually, don't they?" she whispered, finally taking her eyes off of Quinn to look at Puck. "What right do we have to stop them?"

Puck sighed and shook his head. At the very least, he and Santana were the last people to stop anyone in their quest for redemption. Shit, he's still working on his. But he had a job, one that he loved, one that he took more seriously than most things in his life.

"I don't plan on stopping her," he said, staring into Santana's eyes. "But she'll have to fight for redemption in jail, where she _belongs. _She was convicted for murder and she escaped from prison with eight other Death Eaters_. _She is definitely no exception to the law._"_

"And what the fuck do you think you're going to say when you bring her in?" Santana asked hotly, leaning forward in her seat, "You think the Minister of Magic is going to ignore the fact that _we_ had been hiding a _wanted _witch? _Fuck_ that shit. You know exactly what they'd do to us if they found out we were keeping her here and you're a dead man if you think I will _ever _allow you to do that."

Brittany grabbed Santana's arm to pull her back and the Latina stood from her chair, stepping away from the table. She began to pace, running her fingers through her hair completely frustrated; nothing good could come from this situation. Someone was going to get fucked over, one way or the other. Her heart didn't know who to be mad at more: Puck for coming here without a warning or Quinn for coming here in the first place. She leaned against the wall with a deep breath when her chest began to ache and looked at the trembling blonde still hunched over the table.

Maybe she was just a little bit angrier with Puck.

Puck watched Brittany coo soothing words into Quinn's ear and realized that, _shit, _he had no idea what to do. He knew what he _should _do, but the last thing he wanted to happen was for Santana and Brittany to be arrested and taken away from their daughter. These were two of his best friends and he was _Uncle Puck_.

It would kill him if Marcy began to hate him for hurting her mothers.

But he couldn't just ignore the wanted Death Eater sitting right next to him. And maybe he would've been able to ignore her if she didn't have that mark because he trusted the Lopezes with his life. However, being an Auror required him to know of the top criminals in the wizarding world. He was moderately informed about Voldemort and his followers, enough to know that Quinn's past had to be a thousand times darker than his and Santana's combined.

Santana had a point though: he didn't know a _thing _about this Quinn Fabray. For all he knew, she really could be innocent and just thrown into the middle of the battle without much of a say in her involvement. It definitely wouldn't have been the first time this had happened to someone. And Santana and Brittany wouldn't defend her so vehemently without a good fucking reason. But what he _wasn't_ going to allow happen was for this stranger, this _Death Eater _to walk free without knowing _anything_.

And he knew just how he was going to get his answers.

"Okay," he said quietly, crossing his arms over his chest and looking back over at Santana. "I'm not going to arrest her."

Across from him Brittany breathed a sigh of relief, but Santana only narrowed her eyes.

"But what _are _you going to do?"

Puck sighed and stood up from the table to walk behind Quinn.

"If it were any other situation, I would take your word that this witch is harmless without a second thought. You know that. But I just _can't. _This is too fucking serious," he said and relaxed slightly when Santana nodded in understanding. He leaned against the counter. "I won't tell anyone about this, about _her. _But that doesn't mean I won't be looking her up. And _if _I find out that she isn't what you promise she is, I _will_ arrest her. I'll keep your names out of it if I have to, but she will be going back to jail and nothing you do or say will stop me from taking her."

Santana pursed her lips before nodding. "Fine."

Brittany turned her head sharply in Santana's direction.

"San," she whispered and her wife just shook her head.

"It's fine, baby – "

"And she will be staying with me."

Both witches snapped their eyes to Puck. Brittany shook her head and stood up from the chair while Santana stepped forward, leaning her hands on the table.

"That's not necessary," the Latina told him through her teeth.

"It _is," _Puck whispered gently, but in a way that told them that this wasn't up for discussion. "I know you're not the type of people to send her away behind my back. But I also never thought you'd be hiding a Death Eater here in the first place so I'm not going to take the chance. I'll keep her healthy and I'll keep her a secret, but she'll be on _my_ watch. If I find her innocent, then I'll allow her to come back. I'll even help her in any way that I can. But you either agree to this deal or I will be forced to just take her in now and have no other choice than to tell them _exactly_ where I found her."

Santana glared at the wizard and, next to her, Brittany began to shake her head, mumbling under her breath. Would Quinn be innocent enough to meet Puck's standards? Was Quinn even innocent? Not that Quinn was Santana's friend or anything, but she actually _did_ believe the blonde when she implied that becoming a Death Eater was something she pretty much couldn't avoid. Sure, that didn't negate whatever she had to do in her past as a Death Eater, but the Latina has lived with this witch for a month. She's spent all day with her _every day _and never had she even _tried _to do anything that could remotely be considered evil. She's _saved her life._

And maybe she's biased, but that's innocent enough for Santana. Fuck Puck and his stupid standards.

"Okay. _Fine," _Santana whispered as she stood up straight and crossed her arms across her chest. "You can take her."

Brittany spun around to face her wife with a stricken look on her face as Puck pulled a severely weakened Quinn out of her chair.

"Santana, _no."_

The Latina held up her hand and picked up her wand with the other. "But we will be visiting every day to check up and we'll read _every bit _of information that you get on her."

"San," Puck said exasperated, with a small roll of his eyes, "Come on, that's not necess – "

"Yeah? Fuck you," Santana growled and walked over to him, prying his hand off of Quinn and catching her with a slightly pained grimace when the blonde fell forward. "If she's _not _innocent, then it's because we _all _say so. You, me and Brittany."

"And Quinn."

Santana and Puck sighed, knowing it was useless to argue with Brittany.

"And Quinn, I guess," the wandmaker mumbled. She arched her eyebrow at Puck. "_That's_ the deal. If you don't like it then we can fight now and you'll fucking lose."

Puck stared at the two witches and was stunned once again by their fierce protectiveness for this Death Eater. He shook his head. It wasn't worth it to duel his best friends over this witch. He just hoped they could come to an agreement in the end before they had no other choice but to fight. He held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, fine – "

_Knock, knock, knock._

The three of them snapped their heads towards the living room and Puck cursed under his breath.

"_Shit," _he glanced at the clock and noticed that he had been in here for almost a half an hour. "That's probably Finn."

Santana fixed him with a fierce glare. "_What?_"

"Sorry, _fuck," _he said, already walking towards the staircase. "He's on patrol with me. I told him I was only going to be here for a few minutes."

"No, he can't – he can't come in here," Brittany whispered frantically, her eyes shifting frantically to the hallway. Santana placed a comforting hand on her wife's forearm.

"It's okay, baby, I got this. Marcy!"

Tiny footsteps hurried to the kitchen and Marcy appeared in the doorway. "Yes, Mama?"

A smile immediately formed on the Latina's when her eyes fell on her daughter.

"That's Uncle Finn. Stall him for us?" she asked gently. Marcy nodded her head and, with a small wave to Puck, she skipped off down the stairs and they could hear Marcy and Finn immediately fall into excited conversation. Then the smile dropped from her lips and she fixed Puck with a hard glare. "Keep him away from here. I'll bring Quinn to your place and meet you there."

Puck hesitated slightly before nodding. "Take her to the basement. I'll only be a few minutes."

"_Hey_," Santana hissed and Puck paused to look back at her. "Not one fucking word about this meeting."

The wizard rolled his eyes and waved her off before rushing into the living room and down to the front door. They listened for Puck and Finn's voices, then the door closed and only the soft pitter-patter of Marcy's footsteps could be heard on the stairs. Santana let out a huge sigh before shifting Quinn to lean uncomfortably against her shoulder and Brittany turned to her with a frown.

"We're really doing this?"

"We don't have a choice," Santana groaned as she reached around Quinn's waist to get a good hold on her.

"Here," Brittany shifted Quinn so she wasn't leaning against the healing gashes. "Why don't I take Quinn to Puck's? Your shoulder still needs to be cleaned and you chest – "

"I got it, Britt," Santana assured softly, glancing into those worried blue orbs. She nodded towards the hallway. "You should stay with her, anyway."

Brittany bit her lip and looked over at where Rachel was still frozen, helpless and hidden. This was just going to ruin her. The blonde's heart broke just thinking about it. She turned back to her wife and nodded reluctantly.

"Okay," she whispered. Santana smiled sadly at her and when Marcy hesitantly walked back into the kitchen, the Latina gave her a small wave.

"I'll be back, baby," she told her and the little girl furrowed her eyebrows.

"Wait –" she called out confused, but her Mama and a sickly looking Quinn had already winked out of sight with a soft _pop_. She turned to Brittany with a frown and before she could even open her mouth to ask whatever question among many that were soaring through her brain, a loud _thump _sounded in the hallway. She turned to the noise and her mother was already hurrying towards it.

There was a brief, strangled cry that echoed through their home and it was one of the saddest things Marcy had ever heard in her short life.

She walked carefully towards the hallway where she could hear her Mommy apologizing softly just on the other side. The sight that greeted her, that rendered her motionless and speechless, was Rachel sitting against the wall with a hand clamped over her mouth, her streaming, devastated eyes trained unfocusedly past Brittany's shoulder as the blonde hugged her. The brunette's body shook and Marcy felt the dire need to do _something,_ anything to stop Rachel from making those heart wrenching noises. The little girl took a step forward and her foot hit something hard and small on the ground.

A jar of bruise removal paste lay unopened on the floor between them.

* * *

><p>When they arrived in Puck's basement, Santana let out a loud, pained groan and leaned Quinn against the wall where she immediately slid to the floor in a heap. The raven-haired witch placed a hand against her aching chest, close to the bandage that covered the slightly throbbing gashes. Apparition, apparently, was a little too much for her still fresh injuries.<p>

"_Motherfucking son of a bitch_," Santana hissed under her breath, leaning her head back against the wall. She took a deep breath and waited until everything was a nice subtle, bearable throb like it was before. She looked around the spacious basement that had a few boxes and crates in a couple of corners and an old, beaten down desk in the other. It smelled strongly of incense and a residual scent of potions, probably from Puck's younger days. Her eyes dropped down to the blonde who was still awake, but with her eyes squeezed shut and she was fighting weakly against the restraints that held her hands behind her back. Santana waved her wand in the air making the ropes disappear and Quinn immediately cradled her left arm to her chest with a whimper. The wandmaker winced. Suddenly her pain didn't seem so bad because at least it's only temporary.

Quinn had to _live _with hers.

She waved her wand again, bringing forth a large cot to occupy the empty corner next to them. Santana bent down under Quinn's right arm and helped her stand, causing a little bit of pain for the both of them. As she slowly shuffled the two of them towards the cot, Quinn lolled her head in her direction.

"P-please, keep her s-s-safe," she whispered weakly. "She-she has t-t-to stay safe."

Santana glanced over at her briefly before dropping her eyes to the cot and gently lowering Quinn down on the thin mattress with a grimace. She slid down to the cold concrete floor next to the blonde's bed, and leaned tiredly against the wall.

"We will, Quinn," she sighed and closed her eyes.

Santana listened to the shaky breathing and whimpers of Quinn until nearly ten minutes later when Puck apparated in. She pushed up from the ground and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the staircase before he could even speak. It wasn't until they made it to the main floor, away from the earshot of Quinn, that Santana spoke to him again.

"What happened with Finn?" she asked immediately. Puck shook his head.

"Nothing," he said, following Santana into his bathroom. "Our shift was pretty much over, so I told him I was going home to get you a potion for your injuries."

"How kind of you," Santana mumbled as she opened his medicine cabinet. She looked at the different jars and bottles in there before shutting the cabinet door and began rifling through his drawers.

"What are you looking for?" Puck asked. "The potion's in my room."

Santana ignored him and slammed the drawers closed in frustration. She turned to Puck with a look of incredulity.

"You don't have first aid around here?"

Puck furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "The Ministry has its own hospital wing. I just go there."

Santana rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's fucking safe," she scowled. She threw her hands up in annoyance. "What _do_ you have here?"

"What the fuck are you looking for?"

She shrugged. "Whatever you have. Something that will knock someone out until morning, at least. Something _strong."_

Puck stared at her for a moment as he argued briefly with himself. Yes, of course he had something like that, but it wasn't necessarily _legal. _But, then again, keeping a Death Eater as a more or less prisoner in his basement wasn't legal at all, so he nodded at Santana to follow him to the bedroom. She waited in the doorway as Puck walked over to his sock drawer. He pulled out a medium sized tin box and even from where Santana was standing she could hear the distinct _clink _of vials and potion bottles when he set it down gently on top of the dresser. He flipped it open and all of the concoctions crammed in there like glass sardines looked . . . kind of pretty. Liquids of every color seemed to glow and illuminate Puck's face with a magical rainbow.

People were more inclined to take drugs if they looked cool.

Santana arched her eyebrow and leaned against the door jamb with her arms crossed over her chest. "Looks like someone didn't drop his bad habits like he promised everyone."

Puck rolled his eyes and chuckled, pulling out a vial with a bright green liquid and a small glass bottle filled with an electric blue substance, and put the box away carefully. "I keep a stash for special occasions which I'm sure you'll agree this is."

"Naughty," Santana said with a smirk as she followed him back down to his basement. The wizard shrugged his shoulders with his own grin directed to her over his shoulder.

"You keep my secrets and I'll keep yours." There was a small pat on his back that he took to mean that Santana agreed with that deal.

They froze at the foot of the stairs, completely shocked back into the grim reality by the sight of Quinn with her mouth opened in a silent cry and her back arched at a highly uncomfortable angle. Santana snatched both of the potions out of Puck's hands and rushed over to Quinn, lifting her up so she could sit behind her, and held her firmly against her chest. The blonde shivered so violently against Santana, she worried she would drop the potions.

"Puck," she called over to him as she juggled the bottles in her hand, "which fucking one do I give her?"

Puck seemed to snap out of his haze and strode forward, taking the bottles out of Santana's hands and ordering her to tilt Quinn's head back. He uncorked the vial with his teeth and poured half of the green potion down the blonde's throat. Quinn coughed harshly for a moment and then slowly stopped shaking. Santana could see the pupils overtake the foggy hazel orbs until her eyes were almost completely black. The wandmaker laid Quinn, who seemed completely oblivious to them, down softly on her back and she and Puck stepped away from the cot to watch her. Quinn's breathing settled, her blinking slowed, her body relaxed and her left arm that was being held against her chest fell with a soft _thump _to the mattress. The blonde's dilated eyes stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

Then she beamed lazily.

"There you are," she slurred in a whisper, reaching up with her right hand to caress the air above her. Her arm dropped heavily back to the cot when she ran out of strength. She practically purred as that comforting, perfect smell overcame her senses. She turned to her side, pulling herself into a fetal position and reveled in the colors and the feel of soft skin on hers and the whispers in her ears.

She sighed and closed her eyes, a serene smile on her lips.

"I love you, too."

Santana stilled at the confession, but let out a breath of relief when the blonde fell silent and she walked forward to see that she had dropped off to sleep. She tugged on Quinn's shoulder so she plopped on her back and shook her head at the small smile still frozen on her face. Those poor fools.

They sure do have a shitty life.

She turned back to Puck. "What did you give her?"

Puck drew his curious eyes away from Quinn and re-corked the vial with a shrug. "A hallucinogen. And a lot more than I would ever advise anyone to take."

Santana spun around with narrowed eyes. "She's not going to overdose is she?"

"Technically, she just did," he answered calmly as he put the rest of the green potion into his robe pocket. "What's the point of a hallucinogen if you just fall asleep right after taking it? Take two or three drops and you could have eight to twelve hours of magical, out-of-this-world fun. Drink as much as her and you'll get some really weird dreams and probably be completely knocked out to the real world for about an entire day."

"But she'll be fine when she wakes up?" Santana just managed to keep too much concern out of her voice. Puck nodded his head.

"A little disoriented, but the potion should keep her hydrated enough to avoid a nasty headache tomorrow night. She should be able to sleep through anything."

Santana hummed distractedly, her eyes roaming over Quinn's face to try and find any sign of discomfort, but her expression was the epitome of peaceful. Her eyes drifted to the small potion bottle filled with the bright blue liquid still in Puck's hand.

"And what's that do?" she asked with a nod to the glass container. "Make her fucking wasted as well?"

Puck chuckled.

"Actually it's for you," he tossed it to her with a smirk and Santana caught it with a Seeker's ease. She immediately threw it back to him.

"You know I don't do any of that shit anymore."

The Auror rolled his eyes and walked forward to place it on Santana's palm, closing her fingers around it with his own hand. "It won't cure anything, but it'll make you feel warm and numb like a drink of really great firewhiskey without the low inhibitions and tactless truths. It should make apparating as painless as always. It's one of the safest things I've ever made if taken correctly; the hospital wing even uses it sometimes. It's fine, I promise."

Santana stared into Puck's dark sincere eyes and sighed. Such expressions never used to faze her before; Brittany has made her exceptionally soft. She uncorked the bottle and took a whiff of the potion, not at all surprised by its pleasant smell of crisp wilderness. She swirled the hypnotic blue potion in its bottle and felt the old cravings bubbling in her stomach.

"How much do I take?" she asked, albeit a little reluctantly.

Puck took out his wand and conjured up a shot glass. He poured in about a quarter and when the liquid hit the glass, tiny sparks shot out and exploded like baby fireworks of green and orange and purple. Santana rolled her eyes as she grabbed the potion from him, still crackling off sparks.

"You're such a fucking show off."

"Everything I do has to be pretty," Puck said with a smirk. "That's why people would always come back to me."

The wandmaker shoved him in the shoulder for his cockiness and downed the portioned out potion. It was sweet, almost fruity and it was no wonder why so many witches and wizards became addicted to Puck's creations. They tasted awesome and they worked fast; Santana couldn't even feel the ache within her chest anymore. She took a deep breath, reveling and trying to get acquainted with the warm fuzzy feeling that was surging through her body. Puck watched her with a proud grin.

"That's good shit, right?"

Santana rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand.

"We'll see when I get back."

The Auror furrowed his eyebrows. "Where are you going?"

"My place," she said, taking a deep breath as she prepared to apparate. "I'll only be a few minutes."

She was gone before he could say a word.

* * *

><p>When Santana appeared in her bedroom, Brittany was pacing worriedly by the bed. She breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over to pull the wandmaker into a tight hug. It only lasted a second before the blonde pulled away with a squeak.<p>

"Oh, Merlin, your injuries!" she whispered, her eyes wide and watering. "I'm so sorry, baby!"

Santana smiled adoringly at her wife and brought her hand to her chest. Apparating was more or less painless, just a slightly annoying throb in her shoulder where her bites were. Her chest, though, didn't hurt unless she pressed on it and even then it felt like a fading bruise.

"It's fine, Britt," she assured quietly, grabbing Brittany's arm to pull her forward and give her a soft kiss on the lips. She pressed another one to her wife's knuckles before turning toward their en suite bathroom. "I have to go back to Puck's. I only came back to get – "

Her eyes fell to their dresser top where the bandages, numbing cream and bruise removal paste were waiting for her. She let the smile cross her lips and walked forward to pick up the supplies. She turned back to her wife and Brittany looked a little sheepish.

"The-the pillows," she mumbled as an explanation. "They said you were going to need them."

Santana walked forward to plant another kiss on the blonde's lips, making the giddiness bubble up in her stomach. She chuckled at the tiny happy squeal that escaped Brittany's lips.

"Thank you," she whispered. She managed to turn her eyes away from those hypnotizing blue orbs that she fell in love with and glanced at the door where the world beyond it wasn't nearly as fluffy as this room was. She cleared her throat. "How's Marcy?"

Brittany bit her lip and shook her head.

"I don't think she fully understands what's going on," she said quietly. "It's upsetting her."

Santana frowned and twirled her wand anxiously between her fingers. "Should we talk to her? Explain everything?"

"I'll talk to her," Brittany assured and nodded to the supplies in her wife's hands. "Go back to Quinn."

Santana sighed, but nodded her head reluctantly. She glanced back at their bedroom door.

"How's Rachel holding up?" she whispered.

Brittany frowned deeply and shook her head with her eyes tearing up.

"She's not."

Santana looked over at her wife and felt a pull at her heart for the fugitives. After more than a month of having to share this house she couldn't help but build a soft spot for them, against her better judgment. And even if she didn't consider them sort-of-but-not-really friends, she couldn't deny that this situation just fucking sucked.

If it were her in Rachel's place and Brittany, the only person she had left in the world, was taken from her potentially forever, she'd be just as broken.

She reached over to grab her wife's hand, holding on steady, her eyes fierce and bright as she stared into hers.

"We're going to fix all of this, okay?" she whispered sternly and she waited for Brittany to nod her head in understanding before she leaned forward, cupped the pale cheek, and pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. "I'll be back before you know it."

A wavering, but genuine smile appeared on Brittany's face.

"Impossible," she whispered, lacing her fingers with the wandmaker's. "I'll always know when you're coming home."

Santana's heart ran rampant at those soft words and she stepped forward to press their bodies flush together, ignoring the protest in her chest and shoulder. She professed her love in a whisper against Brittany's lips and the blonde reciprocated the sentiment breathlessly. They shared a series of small kisses, just their lips pressing together, before Santana stepped back and with a quick squeeze to Brittany's forearm and a wink, she popped out of sight.

* * *

><p>Puck was leaning against the wall with a discerning eye on Quinn when Santana came back. He arched an eyebrow at the bandages and pastes in her arms and the Latina ignored him as she sat down on the cot next to Quinn's peacefully unconscious body. She carefully lifted up the blonde's shirt and winced at the nasty bruise covering her ribs. It seemed to have gotten worse and she could hear Puck hiss right behind her.<p>

"_Shit, _that's bad," he said quietly, leaning closer to get a better look at the swirl of deep blue and purple that marred the pale body. "What the hell happened?"

"I'm not sure," she mumbled distractedly as she gently felt around the injury to see if any of her bones felt broken. "The bandit probably got a lucky shot."

Puck watched Santana carefully apply the bruise removal paste on the Death Eater's side until it had been rendered to a faint yellow stain. Santana bandaged up Quinn's side and turned to the Dark Mark. She took the numbing cream and, without Quinn awake to tell her if the pain was becoming bearable, was very generous with it as she applied it to her arm. Then she wrapped it up and applied the strongest and longest lasting cooling charm she knew. It was freezing to the touch and, yet, she knew that the burn was still there, deep under the skin where she had no control over it. She sat back and looked at her handy work, confident that Quinn should wake up tomorrow feeling just enough pain that she would considered it normal.

Puck crossed his arms and leaned sideways against the stone wall.

"I didn't know those marks were so painful," he observed quietly.

Santana shrugged. "It probably has something to do with her being here."

She gave Puck a pointed look and the wizard just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he said and pulled out his wand. "Are you done?"

Santana nodded and stood up from the cot after she placed Quinn's arm gently back on the mattress.

"Yeah, that should do it – ," she narrowed her eyes when a pair of thick cuffs appeared Quinn's thin wrists, chaining her loosely to the wall. She turned to Puck angrily as he nonchalantly tucked his wand away in his robe. "Are you fucking _kidding me? _She is in no shape to do _anything_, let alone fight you. What the hell do you expect her to do without even a wand to defend herself?"

Puck faced her, totally unfazed by her anger, and shrugged. "Escape?"

Santana pursed her lips and clenched her fist.

"That is total fucking _bullshit, _and you know it."

"No, _that _is fucking bullshit_," _Puck growled, jabbing a finger in Quinn's direction. "A _Death Eater, _Santana? None of this would have happened if she wasn't here. If _I _get caught with her, then that's it for _all _of us. Why did you have to go and throw her shit into the fan so that we _all _get covered in it!? What the fuck were you guys thinking?!"

Santana shoved him roughly away from where he was shouting in her face. She furiously whipped out her wand as Puck stumbled into the wall, completely caught off guard.

"If anyone is throwing shit around here it's _you_!" she yelled at him, waving her wand in the air in her frustration. "Quinn has been living with us for over a _month_ and everything was annoying as shit, but we were doing _just fine_. And if you would've, I don't know, _knocked _before you waltzed into my home like you owned the fucking place then you, along with everybody else, would've still been none the fucking wiser! But, no, you've succeeded in screwing it all up in ten fucking seconds, you _stupid _asshole!_"_

Santana raked her fingers through her hair and took a few steps away from Puck, trying to calm her fury. A day like this was coming from the very start and she knew it, but right now, she couldn't evenremember why she had allowed Quinn, this fleshy beacon of evil, to stay with her in the first place. Where the fuck was the bright side in this?

"What –_Santana," _Puck groaned and brought a hand up to rub his temples in boiling frustration. "_Why _are you defending her? You hardly know her and don't even try to tell me otherwise. Yet what you _do _know about her doesn't warrant _any _of your help and you know it. We don't have to argue about this and there's certainly no need for name calling, you fucking bitch. We've already come this far, haven't we? So, calm the fuck down. If I'm going to help you, I need to know _everything._"

The wandmaker let out a deep breath and hung her head. Puck was right. She needed to relax. They could just talk. As civil as they could manage, at the least.

"When I found out she was a Death Eater I wanted to kill her."

She turned around and Puck arched an eyebrow at her confession. She shrugged her shoulders and stepped forward a little bit, dropping her eyes down at the unconscious witch.

"I was _furious _that she would come here and put us in danger," she looked at the bandage on the pale forearm and shook her head. "Hell, I even considered calling you guys and turning her in myself."

"Why didn't you?"

Santana laughed mirthlessly.

"You know, everyone always makes fun of me for being whipped. Well, surprise, sur-fucking-prise, it's true. I let Quinn stay with us because _Brittany _asked me to," Santana snapped her eyes to Puck. "But Britt is special. She knows things that we don't. She may not know that she knows them now, but she does when it _matters. _I trust her with my _life_. And when Brittany puts her foot down, you know you trust her too."

Puck crossed his arms over his chest and dropped his sights to the Death Eater. He had his preconceived notions about her and when he took her in, he already had an idea of where she was going to end up: back in prison. But, damn it, Santana had a fucking point.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I do."

Santana seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She stepped forward until Puck looked up at her.

"Look, I'm sorry you got sucked into this, I really am," she apologized quietly, even though she still sort of blamed him for all of this. She nodded over at Quinn. "And you're right, I hardly know her, but I've lived with her for a while now and even I can tell there's something different about her. Just-just give her an honest chance."

Puck pursed his lips before nodding his head a little reluctantly.

"Fine," he relented and Santana actually smiled at him. She patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Puck. Seriously," she said as she stepped away, preparing to apparate home. Puck reached into his robe and held out the blue potion he had given her earlier. She shook her head. "Keep it for your prisoner."

Puck frowned. "Did it work?"

"Like a charm. That's why I'm telling you to give it to Quinn," she told him. Puck seemed to be conflicted before he nodded and put the potion back in his pocket. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay," the Auror said as moved back to give her her space. Santana's eyes dropped down to Quinn and a frown overlook her lips before she popped out of sight. He stared at the empty space that she vacated before turning to, as Santana called her, his prisoner. She didn't look so dangerous; hell, she was even still really attractive considering the horror stories of Azkaban he's heard. But she also wasn't old (except maybe in the eyes) and if the years on her bounty were correct, then she must've gotten marked when she was still a teenager. Even with his limited knowledge about the dark wizards in Europe, he knew that that was a feat that not many were able to achieve. And, in this line of business, it was always better to be safe than sorry. He shook his head and turned to walk up the stairs to the main floor of his house.

With a grumble, he slashed his wand over his shoulder and the cuffs disappeared from Quinn's wrists.

* * *

><p>Santana appeared back in her bedroom and was disappointed to find the room empty. She could definitely do with some comforting kisses. She carefully undressed and got into her pajamas, still mindful of her numbed down injuries. She left her room and made her way to her daughter's, but stopped just outside of Quinn and Rachel's. She bit her lip and hesitantly placed her ear to the door. She stepped away almost immediately when she heard the painful sobs coming from inside.<p>

"_Quinn . . ."_

The wandmaker winced at the broken voice and turned from the room completely. She didn't want to think of the pain that Rachel must be feeling right now. She hurried away from the door and, either the cries were getting louder, or it was echoing in her brain all the way to Marcy's room. She closed her eyes and shook her head of the noise before pushing open the door and walking in. She waited for her eyes to adjust in the dark and then she smiled at the sight of Brittany and Marcy curled up on her daughter's bed. She tip toed over to them and climbed under the covers, sandwiching Marcy between her and Brittany. She draped her arm over the little girl's waist, her skin brushing against her wife's whose arm was also around Marcy. Just as she settled her head on the pillow, her daughter began to shift until she blearily opened her eyes and blinked at Santana.

"Mama?"

"Hi, baby girl," the wandmaker smiled and brushed Marcy's bangs away from her striking blue eyes.

Marcy reached up and rubbed her eye with a small fist. "Did Quinn come home?"

Santana bit her lip and shook her head. "No, honey. Uncle Puck is going to look after her for a little while."

Marcy stared at her for a moment before nodding her head and scooting forward to cuddle into Santana, nuzzling her face into the crook of her neck.

"Rachel should stay with him, too," she mumbled tiredly. "She's very sad."

And then she fell back to sleep. Santana lifted her eyes to meet Brittany's over Marcy's shoulder and Rachel's heartbroken wails rang in her head again. And, much to her chagrin, tears were building in the corner of her eyes. She gripped Brittany's hand and pulled her closer to place a kiss on her lips.

"I love you so much," she whispered, just barely able to keep her voice from cracking. Brittany smiled at her, her eyes teary as well.

"I love you, too."

* * *

><p>Quinn sat up with a gasp, her eyes wide and her heart pounding against her rib cage. She looked around and calmed down when she realized that she was comfortably in bed at the Lopez's. She put her lightweight head in her hands, her fingers sifting through her hair and brushing against the soft fur of her ears. There was definitely something off, but she just couldn't pinpoint it. How she even got to bed in the first place eluded her. She seemed unharmed, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing at attention.<p>

Even her tail was twitching.

There was a shift on the mattress behind her and arms wrapped around her waist, making her shiver in the very best way possible. Quinn closed her eyes and leaned her head against Rachel's that was propped on her shoulder. The fine fur on the brunette's ears tickled her cheek as the Empath nipped at her neck causing her to purr in contentment.

"You're troubled."

"I am," Quinn whispered as she leaned back to grant Rachel more access to her neck. "Something feels . . . wrong."

Rachel hummed and shifted around until she straddled Quinn's waist and wrapped her arms around her neck. The blonde's arms immediately settled around Rachel's midsection and, next to them, their tails met and wound together. Rachel smiled down at her, her tongue running along her pointed canines.

"Do you wish for me to make you feel better?"

Quinn grinned and gripped Rachel's bare hips to spin them around and lay her down on the mattress. She hovered above her mate, letting her bright gold eyes run pleasantly over her body. She moved her hand to run her fingers through Rachel's bedridden hair, stopping at the pointed dark brown ears peeking through the tresses, making them twitch. She leaned forward, reveling in the naked skin that melded against hers as she laid herself down over Rachel. Their noses brushed against each other and, like their tails, their fingers laced together as Quinn brought them to settle above Rachel's head.

"Since the very moment I first saw you," she whispered, their lips ghosting over each other, "you've always made me feel better."

Rachel bit her lip and blushed. Her brown eyes shined happily up at her

"I love you, you know."

Quinn's heart raced and she was sure that Rachel could feel it against her own chest. She placed a kiss on her lips and then trailed them to her neck where she nuzzled into the warm, soft skin. She felt Rachel purr, which she answered with her own, and squeezed Rachel's hands before letting go and trailing hers down the brunette's side. She nipped at the racing pulse point.

"I know, baby," she whispered against her skin. She moved up to look into Rachel's eyes as her fingers found their warm, wet destination. When Rachel arched underneath her with her eyes closed and her mouth dropped open, Quinn was sure that was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. She kissed her cheek, keeping her lips pressed against her skin as her fingers caused Rachel to moan and gasp. "I love you, too."

Rachel replied only with a cry of pure pleasure.

* * *

><p>Brittany knocked softly on Rachel's bedroom door and waited patiently to see if she would be allowed in. She placed her ear to the wood and the only thing that answered her was a soft <em>meow. <em>She bit her lip and pushed open the door, dreading what state she might find Rachel in. When she spotted a kitty Rachel curled on what she was sure was Quinn's pillow, she almost let out a sigh of relief until she saw her eyes that, even as a cat, told Brittany that Rachel must've been crying all night. The blonde gave her a small sad smile and walked forward to sit on the bed next to the cat. She reached over and lightly ran her fingers through the soft brown fur.

"Good morning, Rachel," she whispered and bit her lip, folding her hands nervously in her lap. "Are-are you hungry?"

Rachel was still for a moment before she shook her head, which would've been unnoticeable if Brittany wasn't watching her carefully. The blonde frowned, but nodded; she wouldn't be hungry either if she were in Rachel's shoes. She scratched Rachel behind the ears, disappointed when she didn't hear the purr that she usually received, and stood up from the bed.

"Well, i-if you get hungry, just come and find me," she waited for any sort of reply from the small cat, but sighed when Rachel just closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into the pillow. Brittany turned to leave and paused right at the doorway, glancing back over her shoulder. She made a promise to Sammy to take care of them. It was _her _job and she wasn't going to allow even Santana to make her fail.

"We'll get her back, Rachel," she told her quietly. The cat opened her eyes just barely to look at her and Brittany gave her a small half smile. "I know we will."

And with that she walked out and closed the door behind her, leaving Rachel curious about Brittany, but far too exhausted to care about it for too long. Brittany walked towards the kitchen and took a deep breath to calm the fairies in her tummy. When she turned the corner, she smiled at Marcy who stood on one of the chairs and was helping Santana wash the dishes. She snuck up behind her daughter and tickled her sides causing her to jump and splash all of them with soapy suds.

"Mommy!" Marcy squealed, barely able to restrain her giggles. "You made a mess!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Brittany apologized playfully and placed kisses all over her laughing daughter's face, making Santana chuckle next to them. The blonde picked Marcy up from the chair and set her down on the floor, wiping the water off of her face. "Do you want to come run errands with me today, Ducky?"

Marcy nodded excitedly so Brittany patted her in the direction of her bedroom for her to get ready for the day. Santana turned off the faucet and faced her wife with a smile, grabbing the towel to wipe her hands.

"What are you doing today?"

"Just some shopping," Brittany answered, stepping forward to play with the Latina's fingers. "I'm going to pick up some supplies from Mercedes and stop by Kurt's and Artie's. Maybe go to the Post Office; you know how Marcy loves the owls."

Santana nodded and waved her wand over the dishes so that they put away themselves, pleased that spell casting was a little easier than last night. Puck's potion had worn out as she slept so it still hurt a bit, but Brittany had already called a Healer to come by later and really clean her injuries. Santana scratched absently at her chest and looked over towards the hallway.

"Is Rachel hungry?"

Brittany shook her head sadly, focusing on Santana's fingers. "I think she's going to stay in her room today."

The wandmaker sighed and leaned against the counter, letting her wife cuddle against her.

"She needs to eat, Brittany."

"I know," the blonde whispered, propping her chin on Santana's shoulder. "I'll make her something later and leave it on her bed, but I still wouldn't expect her to eat it. She's heartbroken right now; people tend to not be hungry when they're like that, you know."

"Yeah," Santana whispered as she closed her eyes and leaned her head against Brittany's. She's a fucking expert. "Of course, I know."

* * *

><p>Puck stepped out of the fireplace into the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. Immediately, a paper plane memo landed on his shoulder and he could tell by just looking at the poorly folded wings and crumpled up nose that it had to be from Finn. He opened it up as he made his way to the lift and read over the short note informing him that Beiste wanted to speak to him later. He shoved the paper in his robe pocket and exited the lift on level five: the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He made a beeline towards the records hall, nodding politely to the wizards that passed him, and ran head on into Tina as she turned a corner right in front of him. The files and books that were cluttered in her arms all fell messily to the floor.<p>

"Shit, Tina, I'm sorry," Puck said as he bent down to gather the papers and handed them to her. Tina gave him a small but utterly exhausted smile.

"It's okay," she said softly as she straightened out the papers in her arms. "I've been just all over the place today. Didn't get much sleep last night. Or any, really."

Puck eyed the names on some of the folders, one in particular, and felt a chill run down his spine, but on the outside he merely raised a curious eyebrow. "Doing some more research?"

"Ah, sort of," she said as she rubbed her eyes. "We caught a Death Eater in the woods outside of Vertic Alley last night after you and Finn got off of your shift."

Puck clenched his jaw and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Really? Have they said anything?"

Tina leaned back against the wall and nodded her head with her eyes closed. "Gave him some Veritaserum. Told us everything. Beiste will tell you all about it."

"I see," Puck whispered as he watched Tina cover a yawn with her hand. She seemed to be on the very brink of sleep so he stayed silent for a few moments until he was sure she had dropped off. He placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "Tina."

The witch started and blushed. She shook her head apologetically. "Merlin, I'm sorry. What-what were you saying?"

"Nothing," Puck chuckled. "But, hey, do you think I could make a copy of these files? I'll drop them off at your cubicle, I promise. Besides, you look like you could use a little nap; you're not supposed to be in until noon, anyway."

Tina blinked at him before all but throwing the files and books into his arms with a relieved smile.

"If you take any notes I want a copy of them," she wrapped her robe tighter and more comfortably around her body. "_Neat _notes, please."

"Of course," he said as he juggled the papers in his arm. "Now, go to bed. You're obviously exhausted if you're falling asleep in the middle of having a conversation with me."

"Hush up," Tina shoved his shoulder playfully and then waved at him as she turned to leave. "Thanks, Puck. I owe you."

"No problem," he said and watched her walk slowly down the hall, using the wall as a support. He looked down at all of the vital stroke-of-luck information in his hands and smirked.

Like taking candy from a fucking baby.

He strolled down the hall until he entered the Reference Library and walked straight to the service counter. He rang the tiny bell several times with a shit eating grin to the glaring man sitting right behind the desk.

"Rory Flanagan, my _favorite _Irishman."

"You know exactly one Irishman, Puckerman," the wizard said with a roll of his eyes and stood up from his desk, "and that's me. What can I help you with?"

Puck placed everything in his arms on the counter top and shook hands with him. "I've come to pick that little foreign brain of yours for information."

Rory frowned. "Hey, look mate, I already told you guys everything I kn – "

"Flanagan," Puck interrupted softly, taking a quick scan around them and lowering her voice, "this isn't Ministry business. This is a, uh, _private _conversation."

Rory raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

"_Ohhh," _the wizard looked around before putting a sign on the counter that said 'Be Back Later'. He motioned for Puck to follow him into his small office, closing the door behind them. He sat down behind another desk, reached into one of the drawers, pulled out a bottle of Ogden's Old and, with a flick of his wand, slid a whiskey on the rocks over to Puck. "So, what's up?"

Puck took a sip of his drink and placed his feet on top of the desk, leaning leisurely back into his chair.

"How was your time in the Ministry back in Britain?"

Rory sighed. "Come on. _This _is the 'personal' conversation you wanted to have?"

"Dude, just roll with it."

"Fine," Rory rolled his eyes and sipped his drink. "It was shit. Why do you think I transferred here?"

Puck chuckled and nodded his head. It was practically common knowledge that the British Ministry was full of corruption, as was every Ministry in the world. The only difference is that the corruption in America was usually for selfish, but relatively harmless power or money and the corruption in Europe was leaning towards genocide. A muggle born like Rory would do well to get out of there as quickly as possible. The Auror reached into his pocket and pulled out the front page of the Daily Prophet with all of the Azkaban escapees that the whole department received the very day of the incident.

"Have you been keeping up with what's been going on across the pond?"

Rory nodded. "I get the Daily Prophet every day, but they're so stuck in denial it's like reading poor, boring fiction. I've got buddies who send me real updates; just recently they sent me an issue of the riveting new Quibbler about You Know Who's return as told form the eyes of the famous Harry Potter. "

Puck was intrigued. "And what did the Ministry have to say about that?"

"Well, the Ministry's ignoring it completely, of course," he said, taking a longer sip of his drink. "The Quibbler's known for being nothing more than a load of shit most of the time so a lot of people are taking the story with a grain of salt. But there are still powerful bunches of us that know otherwise and sooner or later everyone else is going to feel like a fucking fool."

"Well, I'm happy to not have to deal with a fucking fool," Puck said with a small smirk and tossed the front page in front of Rory on his desk. "What can you tell me about these escapees?"

Rory stared hard at the paper. In truth, most of the wizards were so much older than him, the only things he ever knew about them were word of mouth and things he learned from the papers. No one's ever asked him something like this.

"Most of them were known to be in You Know Who's inner circle. I think a few of them were even some of the very first. All of them are known powerful Death Eaters really, except . . . " he trailed off and dropped his fingers to the young brunette witch whose picture avoided his eyes, "this one. Rachel Berry."

Puck looked down at the paper, the witch wanted for mass murder, and arched an eyebrow. Compared to all of the other escapees, this Rachel Berry, had one of the most colorful crimes listed. Much more colorful than Quinn's. "Really? Then what was she?"

Rory let out a small, dry laugh. "She was muggle born. And very proud of it."

Puck arched an eyebrow; that was unexpected.

"Then what made her kill all of those people? Was she just, like, crazy?"

Rory actually chuckled as he shook his head in the negative.

"I went to Hogwarts with her," he confessed, letting a small smile show on his face. "She's a couple of years older than I am and was the Head Girl my first year as a Prefect. I've never seen her be anything less than incredibly intelligent and _level headed_ in all my years of knowing her, despite the dark times that we grew up in."

"Then what? Imperious curse?"

Rory scratched at the stubble on his chin, absently making a note to himself to shave, and stared intently at the only face on that paper that he knew personally. He shook his head again and sighed.

"Listen, she killed a lot of wizards that one night, all at once, by _herself, _butshe knew exactly what she was doing. These weren't just slackers or bums, these were _powerful_ people both in ability and in status, very well respected among the idiotic and ignorant community that seems to be the majority over there. And we, the few that had our eyes opened, all fucking knew that they were really kneeling to You Know Who." Rory drained his glass and nearly slammed it down in his lingering frustration with his Ministry. He looked up at a very attentive Puck. "Regardless of what the papers or the Ministry wants anyone to believe, Rachel Berry did nothing more than kill the Death Eaters who ruined her life."

The Auror sat back in his chair and glanced down at the paper. This witch . . . could actually help answer some of his questions. "What did they do to her?"

Rory frowned at the memory of the two wizards he and his family remembered fondly.

"She was adopted by Hiram and Leroy Berry. One was a healer and the other was an Auror who were both very respected in their own rights, but in return had their fair share of harassers," Rory arched his eyebrow and gave Puck a significant look. "I'm sure you can put two and two together."

Puck let out a breath and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. It just didn't make sense to him why this witch would be included in a group like this.

"I don't get it," he said rubbing at his forehead. If this story of Rachel Berry was true, then Santana Brittany's defense of Quinn might not be as farfetched as has assumed. He could feel himself becoming incredibly frustrated with the other Ministry. "If all of these people knew what you know, why would they imprison her for so long? Why didn't anyone come to her defense?"

"Because that's how the Ministry worked, Puckerman," Rory spelled it out for him, almost harshly. "Not that the times now are a ton better, but this happened almost directly after the fall of You Know Who and the Ministry was a damn mess. It doesn't matter that she was just defending her fathers; she _murdered _those men _intentionally_, and at least two of them worked in the Ministry. You can't go around exacting your own bloody vengeance just to satiate your rage and desire; it doesn't work that way in a society that has wizards whose job is to bring people like them to justice. To not punish Rachel accordingly would cause _pandemonium. _And even if someone _were _to come to her defense, there were too many corrupted figures that would dispute their claims and proceed to make their lives a living hell. The Malfoys, the Fabrays, even that Umbridge witch; they have so much influence over the sheep in the Ministry, I wouldn't be surprised if the wizard trying to help Rachel ended up in Azkaban themselves."

Rory snatched up the bottle and poured himself another drink. It always angered him when he thought about his old friend. Merlin, she even helped him meet his current wife. He knew Rachel was destined for great things and for that to be ripped from her as harshly as it was just broke his heart. And now the new wanted signs like the one in the paper were playing her out to be some sort of heartless, mindless murderer.

Rachel didn't deserve that.

Puck's interest had peaked at the mention of the Fabrays, but was able to contain it. He downed the rest of his drink and glanced at Quinn's emotionless face on the paper. He pointed at her. "I'm guessing the Fabrays have lost a lot of influence since she was arrested."

"Well, yes, because the man with the power, Russell Fabray, was killed by her," Rory answered absently as he drank from his cup.

Now _that _was intriguing. Puck crossed his arms over his chest and arched an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Rory shrugged as he poured Puck another drink and then put the bottle back in his bottom drawer. "I never met them personally, sometimes we might all be in the same place by chance and I see or hear them, however mostly what I know is just the rumors and what I read in the papers. From what I understand about that night . . . you ever hear what happened to the Longbottoms?"

Puck shook his head. "Never heard of them."

"They were a couple of famous British Aurors back in the day who were tortured with the Cruciatus until they lost their minds," he finished his drink again, twirling the glass on the table. "Mr. Fabray did that to his wife and Quinn promptly killed him. But honestly," he leaned forward in his chair, "I'm sure she had just been waiting for a big enough reason."

"How do you know that?" Puck asked him, wondering why it was that everyone insisted on defending the Death Eater that no one knew. "You just said you've never met them."

Rory rolled his eyes. "I didn't need to meet them. They flaunted themselves about like they were better than everyone else; Mr. Fabray cared about nothing more than the spotlight and how _he _looked in it. Seeing and hearing them from a distance was enough to feel like you've been their best friend for years. No one needed to know them to _know _them, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah. I think I do," he said, tapping his finger on the rim of his glass. "So what makes you say that about that Quinn girl?"

Rory frowned. He thought back to the moments that he actually got a good look at the mysterious beauty that was Quinn Fabray, which was so rare it was like discovering a Nargle.

"Her eyes," he said as he stared down at the gaunt, but still gorgeous witch who turned to stare blankly up at him when he spoke. "The Fabrays were known to be a bunch of fucking loud mouths. Always bragging about something. Mr. Fabray loved to talk your ear off about his 'perfect' little family, the oldest daughter would inform anyone who would listen about their damned pure blood and even Judy Fabray, probably the kindest of them all, had no problem boasting about their wealth at any given moment. But I think everyone could agree that if Quinn wasn't as beautiful or as intelligent or as powerful as she was, no one would have even noticed that she was there."

Puck furrowed his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that to really know Quinn Fabray, you had to _know _Quinn Fabray. So while the rest of her family is off running their mouths, she gave you nothing more than a look, _if that_. And when you did catch her eyes, you were met with a look of pure apathy," he shook his head and tapped Quinn's emotionless face; an accurate representation of the witch that he remembered. He traced a finger over her crime. "But when she looked at her father there was this quick flash of disdain in her eyes and _everyone _could see it. It was only a matter of time before she snapped."

Puck downed his drink, wincing slightly as it burned down his throat. He pulled the paper over and folded it back up, shaking his head.

"You speak rather fondly of two witches that are wanted for murder and participated in the biggest prison breakout in history."

Rory shrugged and chuckled. "Don't tell anyone this, but I believe, if the rumors are true, we might just consider the possibility of speaking fondly about them – "

"Rumors?" Puck snapped his eyes up, his legs beginning the tremble anxiously. "What rumors?"

Rory frowned and tilted his head in confusion. Was that a trick question? "You don't know?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Puck said softly, grabbing the files off of the desk and taking a look at the names on the folders again. Was shit about to get just that much harder for him? "What's going on?"

The Irishman furrowed his eyebrows, dropping his eyes to the folders in Puck's hands. He shook his head.

"I only know the rumors, mate. He said/she said stuff, you know?" He explained with a sympathetic shrug of his shoulders. "You'll have to talk to Beiste about it to get the real scoop. Or maybe even read those papers you've got in your arms."

Puck looked up at Rory who looked pointedly down at the folders and he nodded absently. The Auror stood up and popped a mint into his mouth from the glass bowl on Rory's desk.

"Yeah, I think I should go do that. I'm suddenly feeling _very _behind," he shook Rory's hand. "Thanks for the help, man. I appreciate it."

"No problem," he said as he waved his wand, making the glasses disappear. "You keep me posted and I'll tell all of their dirty little secrets you want to know."

Puck smirked and nodded before turning to leave. When the door closed behind him and he walked back down the hall towards the elevators, the smile dropped from his face as a cold dread crept into his chest.

_Shit._

* * *

><p>Quinn strode toward the Durmstrang castle with her broom propped over her shoulder, welcoming the snow that drifted softly onto her warm face, flecking her blood red robe and black pants. The soothing sound of the ice crunching underneath her boots was almost lulling her to sleep. The sun was just setting beyond the mountains and the torches leading up the large stone entrance steps were beginning to light as she passed them. Whispers of gossip followed her when she walked past the other students, hardly any of it in English, but she could still understand the majority and she gladly ignored them. Just as long as they didn't attempt the confront her, which only one person had the galls to do. She could hear the running footsteps approaching from behind her and she let a rare small smile show on her face.<p>

Her only friend.

"_Quinn_. You fucking bitch."

The witch chuckled and turned to look sideways at an exhausted, red faced Sam.

"I was beginning to think I lost you," she teased quietly. Sam straightened out his fur trimmed cloak that had become askew in his rush to catch up and scowled at Quinn.

"You cheated," he said, leaning his broom on his shoulder as he caught his breath.

"I did _not _cheat."

Sam smiled. "You tripped me."

"Did not. You're clumsy."

The wizard shook his head and laughed, knocking sideways into Quinn. When they entered the castle doors, two house elves were there immediately to take away their brooms and put them in their separate dorms. There were more students crowding up the hallway waiting for the start of dinner and conversation seemed to pause as they passed and Quinn watched several eyes drop down to the sleeve of her robe that covered her newly marked arm. She eyed them challengingly, daring any of them to say a word, and their eyes turned away in a hurry. She had always loathed such attention, but now it was almost _too_ annoying. Finally, Sam sneered at a group of young boys that were blatantly gossiping about them, whipped out his wand and pointed it to his own throat.

"_Do you have something to fucking say?" _he hissed at them in what was English to Quinn, but came out Russian to the boys and Bulgarian to a group of girls who were watching them across the hall. The boys scurried away with their heads down and, at Quinn's cold glare, the eavesdroppers quickly followed them. Sam watched them leave with a scowl. "Stupid bloody kids."

Quinn almost wanted to smile and began to slowly make her way to the dining halls. She knew he was just trying to protect her, even if he had his own reservations about her recent development.

"Relax," she whispered to him.

Sam followed her, grumbling angrily as they gave their cloaks to another house elf, but seemed to calm as they leisurely walked along. They were just killing time as they strolled the vast bottom level of the castle, neither too keen on getting stuck in the ravenous crowd when the dining doors opened. Usually it was the upperclassmen that still lingered in the halls for a few minutes after dinner started and Quinn and Sam perched themselves on the ledge of one of the large windows where a good handful of their classmates were waiting for the bustle to settle down. Quinn leaned her head against the window and watched as the snow fell even harder from the sky. She still felt like she wanted to go flying, even if just to get out of the castle.

To get away from all of the eyes.

"Hey," Sam nudged her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she hummed distractedly as she drew on the pane of the windows.

"Have you met the new transfer student?"

Quinn snapped her eyes to Sam who was staring off towards a group of their classmates. There, in black robes that stood out in the small crowd of red, was _her. _Quinn slid slowly off the windowsill and took a tiny, unconscious step towards her.

"No," she whispered, "not yet."

Sam stood up behind her and brushed the dust from his robes.

"Well, I hear she's nice," he mumbled nonchalantly and patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, I'm starved. The herd should've thinned by now."

Quinn nodded and let him walk off without her while she made her way over to the girl. With a sweeping glare, the rest of the group scurried off after Sam. The girl turned around in surprise, but then a beautiful smile blossomed on her face when she looked up at Quinn.

"Hello."

The blonde let her eyes trail down to the white shirt covered by a black buttoned up sweater with a loosened blue and bronze tie around the neck, short black skirt and knee highs. She took a step forward until they were almost toe to toe and felt this desperate need to grab her hand just to touch her. She dragged her gaze back to the warm brown eyes and cleared her throat.

"You shouldn't be here."

Rachel arched her eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I have just as much of a right to an education as you do."

"Your blood is not pure," Quinn whispered. "They don't allow mu – "

"Allow _what?" _Rachel hissed indignantly into Quinn's face. "_Mudbloods?"_

Quinn pursed her lips and gave a minute shake of her head.

"_Muggle-borns_ to attend here," she finished quietly, watching as Rachel's face seemed to soften for a second before hardening again. Rachel took a tiny step backwards.

"Well, I'm here anyway," the brunette mumbled, dropping her eyes to the floor, "So, if you'll excuse me . . ."

When Rachel tried to brush by, Quinn grabbed her around the waist and pressed her against the wall. Rachel gasped when her back hit the cold stone and the blonde's very warm body melded completely against hers. Quinn buried her nose into the crook of the shorter witch's neck and breathed in the delectable scent, surprising even herself when she purred.

She was still getting used to that.

As she nipped at the tan neck, she felt the soft rumble of Rachel's own purr followed swiftly by a breathy giggle. Small hands rose up to tangle in her hair, scratching at her scalp and causing her to purr again.

"_Quinn."_

The blonde's heart kicked against her ribcage at the whisper and she leaned back to capture Rachel's lips in a searing kiss. It didn't last too long and when they pulled away the hall was completely empty. They leaned their foreheads together as they caught their breath and Quinn bumped her nose against Rachel's.

"You really shouldn't be here, you know," she said, squeezing her arms tighter around Rachel's waist. "It's not safe."

"I'm not worried," Rachel smirked and cupped Quinn's cheek. "I have you with me."

Quinn gave a sad smile and closed her eyes, nuzzling back into the crook of the brunette's neck.

"I'm not very safe either."

Rachel sighed and buried face into the soft blonde tresses. "Will you let anyone hurt me?"

Quinn growled and shook her head.

"Of course not."

Rachel smiled and kissed the side of her head, wrapping her arms around her neck. She kept her lips against blonde hair.

"Will you hurt me?"

If it were possible, Quinn's arms tightened around Rachel's waist. That was her recurring nightmare: hurting Rachel. It killed her to think of it. She placed a small kiss on the warm neck before leaning up to lean their foreheads back together.

"Never."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I love writing dreams. I kind of miss it. Originally, only a few of New Directions was going to make an appearance in this story…but it looks like almost all of them will eventually make an appearance in some capacity. Anyway I hope you all can be patient with me. I'm trying to write as fast as possible. A quick thank you to those that had reviewed during my hiatus with "hurry your ass up" messages...they really made me hurry my ass up.**

**This site sure has changed a lot since I've last updated…**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello all, I'm back. **

**Here's the thing, fellow readers: my undergrad career is coming to a close and graduation is a little more than a month away. For those of you wondering where the fuck I've been for the past ever, I've been trying to keep up with the course load. I'm sorry, I'm really and truly sorry. I've worked on this chapter for months . . . It's over 45 pages and 20,000 words long. That's my treat to you guys for waiting so goddamned long for this chapter. **

**I hope you guys enjoy this, it's the longest chapter I've ever written. **

**Also, I've got to get a few things off of my chest that I've noticed since I've been silent. **

**1. Glee sucks even worse than it did and I'm pissed off that there are people out there that think it's a good moral example for the younger generation. **

**2. I know a lot of stories have been either discontinued or taken off because of "not following the rules of the site." Look, I've been a member of this site since 06 and a reader for much longer than that, there has always been porn on this site. Nasty shit, too. The administrators don't really know that we're violating out agreement by posting NC-17/MA stories on here unless someone says something. And it's always this: "This isn't a true faberry story. Change it or I'm reporting you." Or "I don't agree with the sex in THIS story, I'm telling."So I'm going to say this: stop being a selfish bitch. A great story/author recently took down her story because some people complained about the dom/sub nature of the plot. Hey, that shit ain't my bag either, but it was a damn good story and it's a damn shame it was taken off because someone didn't agree with it, but hundreds of reviewers did. This site is a creative outlet for a lot of people and no one is forcing you to read something you don't enjoy. Get off your high horse, stop drinking the poison when it's just sitting idly on the shelf, and enjoy the fucking stories. And if you try to take down my stories: Come at me, bro.**

**3. I am **_**sick **_**of seeing stories, especially finchel stories, that don't belong in the faberry category. I know they have this new shit where you can have four characters, whatever, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the people, and it's been a lot of them, that post legit finchel stories, poorly written ones at that, in the faberry section. So not only does it make you look like a little prick for posting in enemy territory (because let's be honest this is practically a gang war), but because it's so poorly written, it just makes you look incredibly fucking stupid. Like **_**really **_**fucking stupid. So I'm going to assume it's a . . . slip of the finger or something. Let's be a little more careful with that. **

**Okay I'm done. Read, Ponder, Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Puck entered Lopez Wands with a nod to Brittany who was happily helping someone behind the counter. His eyes fell to the large circular pillow in the middle of the wand stacks that was usually occupied by Brittany and Santana's newest pets and he frowned when he found it empty. He leaned his arms on top of the counter, keeping an eye out for them; the lion may be friendly, but he still wouldn't want her to sneak up on him.<p>

"Okay, it's as good as new," Brittany chirped at the frightened looking man as she handed him back his wand. "Now, I would let it rest for a little while before – "

"_Motherfucking son of a fucking bitch!"_

" – using any difficult spells. Let the wand get used to feeling whole again, to get its smile back. The wand isn't _just _a wand, you know," she told him sagely and looked him directly in the eye, "It's your other soul mate," she nodded, beamed at him and clapped her hands together. "I hope you have a magical day, Mr. Truner." The wizard's eyes snapped nervously to the closed office before waving at Brittany and hurrying away. She sighed as she watched him leave. "He reeked of insecurity. Hello, Puck."

"Hey, Britt," Puck greeted with a small smile. He looked over at the office. "Is San . . . busy?"

Brittany shook her head and reached under the counter for a small bag of smoking beef jerky. "She's just getting her snake bite cleaned and her chest checked out. They should be out soon."

As if they heard, the office door opened and a scowling Santana walked out scratching at her chest and with a new bandage on her arm. "I hate you so much."

"Yes, my occupation – it's a curse, really," the Healer that walked out behind her chuckled as he pocketed his wand in his lime green robe. He nodded at Puck. "Hey."

"Blaine," he greeted with a smirk. "Was she being a big baby?"

Blaine shook his head and walked around the counter.

"I'm sure babies aren't allowed to say some of the things that came out of her mouth."Brittany offered him a piece of beef jerky and he took it with a smile, blowing on the smoke that licked at his face. He pointed at Santana's injuries. "Your chest is good now. That Runespoor bite is coming along fine; that lovely antidote you have is working wondrously. If you stick to changing it twice a day or every four to six hours it'll be as right as right in a week or so."

"Yeah, yeah," Santana mumbled, waving him off. "Go ruin someone else's day."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm going across the street to see my husband. Take care, all and be sure to call me if anything feels off."

"Thanks, Blaine," Brittany said for Santana and the wandmaker just rolled her eyes, but they could all tell she was really grateful.

The three of them said goodbye to the Healer and watched him leave before Santana waved her wand at the front window making the sign change to 'Be Back in 20mins.' Santana hopped up to sit on top of the counter while Brittany took her baggie of jerky and went to the rolling ladder, moving it over to the end of the third shelf closest to the counter. She began humming as she climbed to the top and Puck curiously tilted his head when she took a piece of jerky and fed it to something hidden in the top shelf with a large happy smile on her face.

"What's that?" he asked when Brittany fed the creature again, still humming. "New pet?"

"No, it's just the cat," Santana mumbled, picking at her nails. "Britt's humming seems to be the only thing that soothes her."

Puck nodded and looked around again.

"Where's the lion?"

The Latina looked at him and arched an eyebrow. He still hadn't figured out that Q and Quinn were the same entity? The fucking moron. She tried to hide her smirk and rolled her eyes. "It's a fucking wonder that B even came down here today, let alone that we got her to actually eat something. I don't think you'd want to meet the large carnivorous feline whose _owner_ you took away last night."

Puck cut his eyes to Santana and pursed his lips. No, he _really _wouldn't want to see the lion, especially now that he knew that Quinn was the reason they were there in the first place. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms across his chest, making sure to keep an ear open for any sort of growl so he could get the hell out of there in a flash.

"We have a problem."

Santana frowned and Brittany stopped humming immediately. She turned back to Rachel and the small brown cat was staring at her with wide worried eyes. Brittany tried to give a comforting smile and scratched Rachel gently behind the ears before descending the ladder to stand by her wife. Rachel scooted forward on the shelf to be able to watch them from above and listen in carefully because whatever Puck was going to say, it was going to be about Quinn.

"What's going on?" Santana asked, frustration already clear on her face. The shit pebble of their Quinn situation was just rolling quickly downhill that, by the time this day was over, she felt like it was just going to be one big stinking poo ball. Puck sighed and leaned against the counter.

"A Death Eater was captured in the woods just outside of the Alley last night, not too long after I had taken Quinn."

A tense silence fell over the three of them and Rachel scooted back further into the darkness of her hiding spot, burying her noise in her paws. Santana sniffed and slid off the counter to stand up straight.

"And?"

"They're looking for her," he whispered, glancing up at the top of the shelves where Quinn's cat was hiding. He wondered briefly if she could understand their conversation; a very serious thought, he couldn't even scoff at the ridiculousness of it. If she could, then he might just consider apologizing to her. "Beiste says that the Death Eater was sent to find her and take her back to Voldemort.'"

Brittany gasped quietly and brought her hand up to her mouth. "He wants to _hurt_ her?"

Puck shrugged. "He didn't know specifics. And the rumor, to make matters worse, is that they believe she's hiding either _here _or at one of the neighbors."

Santana shook her head and let out a breath. The ball continues to grow. "So what does that mean?"

"Therein lies our problem," Puck sighed deeply and stared at the ceiling. "The Ministry, while they feel that you guys are in the clear, believes that it is necessary to send a couple of Aurors over to make sure you really aren't hiding anyone here."

"Oh, Merin, please tell me one of those Aurors is you," Santana said through her teeth. Puck looked down and the shake of his head dropped Santana, Brittany and Rachel's hearts.

"I tried, but Karofsky and Hart are the lucky souls who got the job. They should be by tomorrow," he told them sympathetically. He watched as Santana leaned over and placed her head in her hands. Brittany bit at her thumb, glancing continuously up at Rachel.

"What do we do?" she asked quietly, already thinking of ways to get Rachel out of here safely if she needed to. Puck looked at them seriously.

"Get rid of any evidence that Quinn was here. That's it," he said with a shrug. "There's not really much you guys _can_ do. They aren't going to tear your house apart looking for her because they're some of the ones that think searching this place would be a waste of their time. We really wouldn't even be doing this if those Death Eaters didn't show up at your shop a month ago. When they're done and they find nothing then that's it. We probably won't search you guys again unless something else happens here."

There seemed to be a breath of relief coming from three different places. Santana sagged against the counter and Brittany began to smile again as she placed a hand on the small of her wife's back. A simple search was fine, that was easy. Just as long as it was quick and they didn't harass them, but Karofsky and Hart were never the types to do so anyway. They were all friends.

Puck glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that his time was running short. He looked back at the two witches. "Listen, I've got a lot of information on Quinn today. I want to talk to her alone when she wakes up tonight. If you guys want to come back tomorrow or the next night then we can sit down and go over everything I've pulled up."

The Latina nodded. "You don't have any information now?"

"I haven't gotten around to reading any of the reports that I have. What I do know is just rumors. You know how I feel about rumors," Puck shrugged and knocked his knuckles on the counter top before walking backwards towards the door. "I'm on patrol right now so I gotta go. If I find out anything of importance, you guys will be the first to know."

They said their goodbyes to each other and Brittany turned to Santana with a large smile. Santana's brow furrowed at her.

"As beautiful as your smile is, Britt Britt, I fail to see why you are so happy," Santana mumbled, waving her wand at the door and changing the sign back to say 'F*cking Open.' "We're just _barely_ floating in shit creek in one crappy boat, babe."

"Our boat is floating just fine," Brittany giggled and climbed back up the ladder. She reached into the shelf and picked Rachel up, receiving a startled _meow _from the small cat. She held her close to her chest, descending to the floor, and addressed Santana as she made her way towards the stairs.

"The water will be crystal clear before we even realize it. Just give it time, Sanny."

The wandmaker watched her wife walk up the stairs to their home, humming a jaunty tune, and had to restrain the smile when the distinct purring rumbled throughout the stairwell.

* * *

><p>Quinn ran through the hallway, her heart thundering in her chest and her breath coming out in pants. Something just wasn't right and it sickened her very <em>soul<em>. She slid to a stop and burst into the room, hardly feeling the near brutal force with which she slammed into the wood with her shoulder. She settled her eyes on the bed, stepping forward so the mattress pressed against her knees.

There, lying under the covers in a state of half-consciousness, was Rachel.

"Quinn?" she whispered, sitting up in bed and pulling the sheet up to cover her bare chest. "Wh-what's wrong?"

The blonde stared into the worried brown orbs, wanting to just be so happy to see her, but when her eyes drifted down to the petite woman's arm she couldn't contain the growl that bubbled in her throat. She stomped around the bed so that she stood on the side next to Rachel and grabbed her arm. She stared right into her eyes as she turned it over to reveal a warm and fresh Dark Mark.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" she whispered. Rachel looked away and snatched her arm back.

"Quinn, please," she said as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, her back facing Quinn, and pulled on her shorts that were on the floor. "It - It's nothing – "

"_Don't _lie to me," Quinn walked around so that she stood in front of Rachel. "Why-_why_ would you do this, Rachel?"

Rachel sighed and yanked on a shirt before standing up from the bed, putting space between them. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the floor. "You have one."

Quinn growled again and strode forward until they were nose to nose.

"And I fucking _hate_ it and you know it," she sneered in her face. "It was _foolish_ of you to get one, to even _think _of getting one."

Rachel stepped away from Quinn again, a look of defiance creeping up on her features.

"I make my own decisions, Quinn," she told her, turning around to make her way towards the door with a shake of her head. She lowered her voice. "I just wanted to feel closer to you."

Quinn rushed forward to block Rachel's path, her eyes flashing with frustration. "Maybe it's not fucking safe to feel closer to me."

Rachel narrowed her eyes.

"Well, then, _maybe_ you should've left me in Azkaban instead of dragging me to America and putting my _life_ in danger!"

Quinn physically recoiled from the words, this time being the one to take a step back. It choked her to hear her own fear echoed back to her with so much resentment. Her eyes watered and the dark orbs that stared fiercely into hers were misting as well. There was a moment of regret that flickered across Rachel's face before she looked down to the floor and brushed by her. "I'm going to go out."

Quinn watched her walk towards the door with a frown, the tears trailing down her face. "Rachel, wait, I'm sor – "

The door burst open and Quinn was immediately thrown back into the wall by a spell aimed at her chest, groaning at the impact. Two sets of hands grabbed her around the arms, holding her there, and when she looked up at her masked captors her heart stopped completely.

"No – "

"_Quinn!" _

Quinn snapped her eyes to Rachel who was being held between two Death Eaters as well. She growled and struggled desperately against her captors.

"_No! Leave her alone! You don't want her!_" she cried desperately. _"Let her go! Please – please, let her go!"_

Then the air around them chilled and they felt the despair creeping into their bodies when a Dementor glided gracefully into the room and stopped in front of Rachel. Quinn's eyes widened and she fought even harder against the Death Eaters holding her tight.

"No," Rachel whimpered as she stared up at the Dementor, trying violently to pull away. "Oh, please, no . . ."

"Don't . . ." Quinn whispered helplessly watched as the rotting hand grabbed the brunette's chin and the hooded head inched closer and closer to Rachel's shell shocked face. "_Rachel, NO – !"_

* * *

><p>"<em>NO!" <em>

Quinn shot up in bed, grabbing at her chest and trying to catch her breath. Her eyes immediately fell to the mattress and her heart picked up and dropped when she found herself alone. For a moment, she panicked as she glanced around the dark basement she found herself in before she began to remember last night.

Rachel's not here.

Quinn's been arrested again.

She leaned heavily against the stone wall and breathed a sigh of relief that seemed inappropriate for her situation.

Because Rachel was safe and that was all that mattered.

She shifted on the bed and grimaced at the dull pain in her ribs. She reached down and lifted up her shirt, ripped off the bandage and tossed it to the floor. She ran the tips of her fingers along the fading yellow bruise and felt the tears build in her eyes. Rachel was supposed to be the one to fix her ribs. She let her shirt fall and observed the new bandage on her barely throbbing arm. Santana must've put way too much numbing cream on it; it was almost like it wasn't even there. She let it fall to the mattress like dead weight and closed her eyes.

It was definitely a step up from the blinding pain.

The door at the top of the stairs opened and she sat up straight, pushing herself into the corner when Puck began to descend towards her with a load of files in his arms. He held up a calming hand, walked over to grab the dingy chair by the desk and set it in front of her, laying the folders on his lap.

He cleared his throat. "Are you hungry?"

Quinn stared at him, keeping a wary eye on his wand and shook her head. "No."

"I didn't think so," he sighed and tossed the papers on the bed next to Quinn. "Do you know who I am?"

"Puck," she whispered, staring at her feet. The wizard nodded.

"My name is Noah Puckerman. I'm an Auror for the Ministry of Magic's American base," he crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair. "I'm going to ask you a few questions and, for your benefit, I need the absolute truth."

Quinn sighed and leaned her head against the wall. There's no use in lying and there's no use in holding anything back if she wished to convince him that she had no desire to cause trouble. She turned her emotionless hazel eyes to meet Puck's, making sure to keep the connection as she spoke.

"You'll find I don't have much to hide anymore," she informed him quietly and frankly. Puck stared at her for a moment, before nodding his head again and crossing his arms loosely over his chest.

"For the record, your name is Quinn Fabray and you were arrested in 1988 on the twenty-seventh of June for the murder of Russell Fabray, is that correct?"

Quinn glanced at the file on top of the pile he threw on her "bed" with her name on the tab and she was willing to bet all the money she had left to her name that her mug shot was just on the inside of the folder. She restrained an eye roll. "Yes."

"Can you tell me why you murdered your father?"

Quinn narrowed her eyes at the Auror. "Perhaps you should avoid wasting our time and stick to the questions you _don't _know the answers to."

Puck gave a dry chuckle; perhaps he may have had a preconceived assumption that Quinn would be nothing more than a dumb Death Eater. But, with just one long look in her eyes, he knew that there was enough intelligence in that blonde head for the both of them.

"Alright," he whispered and leaned forward in his chair. "Why did he attack your mother?"

Quinn let out a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. "Only one person really knew why. Unfortunately, I killed him before I could ask."

"Why do you _think _he attacked her, then?"

Hazel eyes drifted lazily towards Puck and shrugged. There were several possible reasons why. "Because she wasn't a Death Eater. Because she missed her daughters and resented him for turning them into little monsters created after his own image and then chasing them away. Because she respected and actually cared about people who were different than her, unlike them, and it disgusted him."

"_Them?" _Puck arched his eyebrow, glancing briefly down at the bandage covering her arm. "You don't consider yourself one? It's strange, all of these reports would say that Voldemort only chose to free the witches and wizards he deemed too . . . _valuable_. Of the dozens of his followers that were in that prison, _you _were one of the chosen few."

"Except, I never _asked _to be broken out of Azkaban in the first place," Quinn hissed at him, sitting forward with blazing eyes. "I _deserved _to be there. I had no plan to escape."

"But you sure did jump at the chance, didn't you?"

Quinn scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Like you wouldn't? Prison is prison, _every _convictwishes for freedom, whether they believe they deserve to be there or not. Anyone would take it if it were handed to them on a platter made of _shit_. But had the opportunity not arose, I guarantee you I would still be sitting in that cell, slowly but surely going insane and I would've _welcomed _it."

"Then why would he choose you?" Puck sat back, his head tilted in genuine interest. "Why is he going through all of this trouble, sending all of these people after you, chasing you thousands of miles across the world when everyone _knows _that he has bigger things to worry about?"

"Because I was great at my job," Quinn said frankly and leaned back against the wall. It was a sad truth, but something even the best of them would feel at least a little bit proud of. "I was marked at sixteen and at a time when the Dark Lord was the most powerful and feared being in Europe, and absolutely _picky _about whom he kept around him, that's a _huge _honor. I'm an asset and he knows it."

Puck almost smiled. "You sound like you're bragging."

"Maybe," Quinn bit back a smirk and shrugged her shoulders again. "I mean, you asked for the truth, didn't you?"

"I suppose I did," the Auror chuckled and leaned forward to grab Quinn's folder from the bed. He flipped it open and scanned the first couple of pages. "Your father was a Death Eater?"

Quinn nodded. "My grandfather was one of the first."

Puck turned the page over.

"It says Russell aided in the capturing of a number of other Death Eaters; provided some vital information about their whereabouts and their involvement. Information that _no one _else knew and seemed to have come out of nowhere," he looked up to see Quinn nod her head. "I would figure that you did Voldemort a favor; they'd absolutely love to have you back. You killed a _traitor_."

"No, I killed the man that tortured my _mother_," angry hazel eyes snapped to his as she practically growled at him. "Whatever he did in his past just doesn't fucking matter; what _does _matter is I will never have my mum back because of him. Even if he were my best friend, I would kill him twice if I could."

Puck held up a calming hand and internally chastised himself for speaking carelessly. "Okay, but do they know that? Wouldn't they still want you back on their side if they think you just killed him because he betrayed them?"

"I don't know what they think," she shrugged, the fiery anger in her eyes cooled back down to that look of boredom. "And I'm sure, at first; they wanted me back, but _now? _Not so much. The Dark Lord doesn't take very kindly to defectors; he'd much rather kill them than work with them."

"So, you're a defector?"'

Quinn arched an eyebrow and gestured at the basement around them. "I'm here, aren't I? Wandless and kept hidden from the outside world, just another prisoner outside of prison. Risking recapture when I could be relatively protected by the Dark Lord."

"Well, you say that," he said, "but why should I believe that you're only here to hide? Why shouldn't I suspect that you're not undercover and merely tricking the Lopezes into honestly thinking that they're helping you when, really, you're doing a favor for Voldermort?"

"Like _what_?" Quinn rolled her eyes. "The Dark Lord has no business here. You said it yourself: all of his time has been focused on that Potter boy and he has no interest in what's going on in America when he's too busy still trying to take over Europe. What _is _here is _me_ and I've been intentionally ignoring his calls for over a _month_. And while that may not seem like much, that is a _deadly _mistake you would be wise to avoid making."

Puck furrowed his eyebrows. "He . . . calls?"

"The _mark_, Puckerman," Quinn lifted up her bandaged arm. "It burns when he summons you and he's been summoning the Death Eaters since May of last year. You're demanded to report immediately and, as I have painfully found out, the longer you deny it the more it hurts. Which I'm sure you've noticed."

Puck nodded because he remembered. Absolutely tortured was how he would have described her state last night. "If you don't want the mark then why don't you just get rid of it? Why get it in the first place?"

Quinn leaned her head back against the wall and almost chuckled because she's asked herself those very same questions for seventeen years.

"Had I known when I was a teenager that I could've made it on my own and I didn't _need_ my family's acceptance or respect_, _I would've _never_ allowed myself to get marked. I would neverhave associated myself with that heartless _murderer. _And if it were that easy to get rid of it, _trust me_, I would've done so by now. The only solution that I know will work for sure is to cut off the entire arm," she picked at the bandage and shrugged. "I'm not exactly jumping at the opportunity."

Puck dropped his eyes to his own forearm and decided that he agreed; if he were in Quinn's situation, he'd take the pain over losing his arm any day. However, if it meant that others had to get hurt for him. . .

Puck stared at the Death-Eater-but-not and slowly closed her folder. He reached over to pile the other files on top of hers and fixed her with a scrutinizing look. He had one more question for the night before he decided if he was going to treat her with kindness or hawk-eyed suspicion.

"How did you get here?" he watched Quinn stiffen slightly and almost wanted to smirk. He's finally on to something. "You have reasons for your mark, your crime and your defection which – and I definitely did not expect this – I actually believe, but I just don't understand how you ended up here with the Lopezes. I know you guys didn't know each other before this, in fact, I know that Santana didn't want you staying at all. There had to be a middleman. So, who was it?"

Quinn narrowed her eyes at the slight smug upturn of Puck's lips and didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her falter. "I grew up with Samuel Evans, one of Brittany's cousins; the relatives she probably doesn't talk about because their families have been estranged for years. They couldn't look after me because of their close personal relationship with Britain's Ministry of Magic, so they asked Brittany and she offered her home."

"And you took it? Just-just like that?" he shook his head, indignation building up in his stomach for his good friends. "Do you realize how much danger you are putting them in?"

"Completely aware, trust me," Quinn assured through her teeth with narrowed eyes. "I'm not _daft_, Puck."

"Then you should've _left_ a month ago," he exclaimed as if it were obvious. "The Death Eaters followed _you _here, so _you _are the one that is putting the entirety of Vertic Alley, fuck, maybe even the whole state of New York or the whole country of the U.S. at risk if you stay here and that psychotic bastard really cares about you as much as you say he does. _We _don't belongin the middle of this war that's happening in Europe or whatever it is that's going on between you and Voldemort. You're an unnecessary risk for all of us."

Quinn bit her lip as she stared down at her hands and fought against the hot tears building up behind her eyes. Puck's right; they should've left when they had the chance. This past month had been the best month in Quinn's life. She lived in a home where people protected her, took care of her, fed her. And she got to fall asleep and wake up with the woman she loved every single day. She couldn't ask for anything more. Merlin, she didn't even _deserve _to ask. They were lucky. She wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.

But she should.

"I wanted to leave," she whispered and shook her head, her body deflated. "I had my bags packed and no food, protection, or a place to go, but I did _want _to leave."

"Then why didn't you?" Puck asked softly, almost exasperated.

Quinn shrugged. It was all so painfully simple. "The Lopezes didn't want me to. _Vehemently _didn't want me to. But to be fair and _honest_, I had my bags packed and ready to go, but I didn't really try that hard to leave anyway."

Puck sat there and eyed Quinn carefully. She tried to leave and the _Lopezes _stopped her? And by the Lopezes, he's pretty sure that meant mostly Brittany. He just didn't understand _why. _

"Do you regret _not_ leaving?"

Quinn sighed; what a loaded fucking question that was.

"I have been looking at it this way," she began quietly, turning her stubbornly tearing eyes to meet Puck's, "I'm living freely only on borrowed time."

Puck seemed to recoil from the confession. He wasn't expecting _that. _"What do you mean?"

Quinn closed her eyes, quickly bringing her hand up to wipe away at an escaping tear and hoped that Puck hadn't caught that. She shook her head.

"It'd be foolish of me to think that I'm going to be able to hide forever. In fact, it seems like my time has already run out, hasn't it?" She opened her eyes and looked at Puck, gracing him with a small sad smile and a detached shrug. "I know I'm eventually going to get caught, I just don't know by whom yet. So, it was a choice of either surviving briefly on my own, defenseless and starving, or with a family who, for _whatever _reason, wants to protect and take care of me. I chose the common answer. It doesn't, however, mean I decided this with a light conscience. It would kill me if Brittany or Marcy or Santana or – " _Rachel. _Quinn bit her lip and swallowed against the jagged lump in her throat. _Rachel. _She missed her, Merlin, she missed her _so much. _She wiped at her eyes again. "Or _anyone_ got hurt because of me. I've definitely had enough of that in my life."

Puck leaned forward slightly in his chair to catch the whispered end of her sentence. He knew regret when he saw it and it was clear in those dull hazel eyes that stared back at him. He toyed with the corner of one of the folders in his lap.

"The Lopezes will have their home searched sometime in the very near future," he informed her almost nonchalantly, taking notice of how she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall.

"I'm sor – "

"Save it," he cut her off, waving away her apologies he had no interest in hearing. "They have a lot of friends in the Ministry. It's a good thing they told us about the Death Eaters that were looking for _you _when they did because it actually makes them look innocent. So, consider yourself fucking lucky because I'll be damned if I let you fuck up their life."

Quinn opened her mouth to apologize again, but thought against it and just nodded instead.

They sat there in a tense silence for a while before the Auror sighed. Puck still had questions and he definitely still had his doubts, but with a long look at Quinn he decided that that was enough for tonight. He straightened out the folders on his lap and stood up, ignoring how Quinn tensed and curled herself further into the corner. He cleared his throat and glanced up the staircase.

"You sure you're not hungry? A sandwich, some soup?" He sighed when Quinn just brought her knees up to her chest and stared at her feet. "A shower, at least?"

Quinn bit her lip and peeked up at him through her eyelashes.

"A shower would be nice," she whispered, bringing her left arm to her chest and trying to hide the grimace as the cream slowly began to wear off. "Maybe – maybe some soup, too."

Puck held back a smile and nodded at her to follow him. Quinn slowly got off the bed, wincing slightly at the faint bruise on her ribs. Puck led her up the stairs, flicking his wand to surreptitiously lock the doors and windows of his house. Quinn glanced around his home; his kitchen was small and divided from his living room which had a few mismatched armchairs and sofas. His coffee table was chipped and oddly shaped, and the hallway seemed to only branch off into three different rooms, one of which was the bathroom. And even though most of his furniture seemed to be old, worn out, hand-me-downs, his home was surprisingly clean and pleasant smelling. On one of the couches against the wall lay a huge, fluffy black and brown Akita that sprang up and trotted happily over to them, greeting Puck, who quickly bent down to peck a kiss on top of her head, and sniffed curiously at Quinn's legs.

"I didn't know you had a dog," she said quietly, to herself. She was almost afraid to touch it.

"Yeah, that's my roommate," Puck answered her as he peeked through the curtains to make sure everything was still and silent. "She likes to stay outside usually, but it's pretty cold tonight."

Quinn tilted her head; how long had she been asleep?

"What day is it?" she asked softly, patting the dog placidly on the head so she wouldn't jump on her.

"It's only been a little bit more than twenty four hours since I picked you up," Puck said as he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. He nodded towards the open bathroom and snapped his fingers to grab the attention of his dog. "You can go shower. I'll bring you some clothes and make your soup."

Quinn nodded and mumbled her 'thanks', still clutching her bandaged arm to her chest. Puck scratched absently behind the dog's ears, tossed the folders on his kitchen table and a name caught his eye. He turned to Quinn just before she closed the door.

"Hey," Puck held up a file and flipped it opened to show the mug shot, "did she escape with the rest of you guys?"

Quinn looked at the folder and almost fell. Rachel's picture met her eyes, making the blonde grip the door knob tightly in her hand. She managed to tear her eyes away from the picture and shook her head.

"I never saw her with us."

She closed the door before Puck could ask any more questions. The blonde leaned her forehead against the wood and clenched her eyes closed, her hand gripping at her chest. It's been a whole day; the longest she's gone since seeing Rachel in more than a month and she was sure that her body just couldn't handle the separation. She's always heard about the fabled "love pains" and she always figured it was just that, _fables. _Stories told to the naïve to make them believe that love was more powerful than it really was. That there could possibly be a bond that was so _alive, _your heart simply starved and _hurt _when you weren't with them. It was preposterous, things cheesy romance novels tried to sell. It wasn't supposed to be real.

And if it was then it certainly wasn't supposed to hurt this bad.

She stripped her clothes, turned the shower on with shaking hands, avoided her foggy reflection's eyes, and managed to contain her tears until she was under the near scalding hot spray of water. At first she tried to silence them, but when the harsh whispers of her last dream echoed in her head, she sunk down until she sat on the tub floor and _sobbed_. Her tears mixed with the water and she hoped her gut-wrenching cries were covered by the sound of the shower or, at the very least, Puck was too busy to hear her.

Rachel's mug shot flashed at her behind closed eyelids and she moaned and whined, trying to gain some control over her completely wrecked emotions.

* * *

><p>Santana walked into the bathroom and sat down on the closed toilet lid. She closed her eyes and cursed under her breath; the bites had begun to sting right in the middle of helping her first customer of the day. Brittany took over the shop as she went to tend to her wounds. She just needed to work up the strength to pull away the one thing that's, for the most part even if the spell's dwindling down, keeping the venom from eating away at her innards. The gashes haven't closed yet, but it's slowly getting there; she hoped that she didn't have to do this for much longer. Not that it mattered, of course. This was nothing to her.<p>

She wasn't a fucking pussy.

She took a couple of deep breaths, gripped the edge of the bandage, cursed angrily under her breath, and ripped it off. She brought her fist to her mouth and bit down on the knuckle, trying desperately to restrain her cries of pain. It was nowhere near as painful as when it was fresh, but it still felt like little fiery spikes were flowing through her veins. With her arm hanging uselessly on her lap, she clumsily tried to unscrew the magic repellent cream with one trembling hand. She nearly cried when she dropped the container on the floor and it rolled towards the doorway. The pain began to build as the last remnants of the cream on her arm began to evaporate in the fresh air around her and she hunched over, biting her lip to contain her cries.

_Meow._

She glanced over at the door where Rachel sat, her paw on the container and tired, red-tinged eyes staring at her. She watched her change and almost winced for an entirely different reason: this was the first time she had seen Rachel as anything other than a feline for more than a day and the bags under her eyes made her look like she'd been beaten. Silently, the Empath walked forward with the cream jar in her hand and gently pushed Santana to sit up straight. Rachel worked quickly, scooping up a dollop on her two fingers and rubbing it over the gashes, causing the hiss of burning skin and muscle to silence. It left behind a clear film over the wounds and Rachel reached over to grab a tissue to wipe away the blue puss that had begun to creep out of the healing gashes.

Santana sighed at the cool relief and watched as the brunette bandaged her arm robotically, but with the gentle hands of a Healer. Her moves were lethargic and when she looked up into Santana's eyes, she just seemed so _tired. _

"Is that better?" Rachel whispered, glancing down at the bandages still in her hands, her voice raspy because of lack of use, other than the crying.

Santana just nodded, pulling her sleeve back down. "Thanks."

Rachel's eyes fleetingly met hers before she turned around to put away the medical supplies. She leaned her hands on the sink and closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose. Her heart ached worse than anything she's ever felt before and she never thought that that could even be possible, not with what she's had to go through in her life. She just couldn't deal with it anymore.

"I need to see her."

Santana looked up at her and frowned. She sighed and shook her head, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"I don't know, Rachel," she said quietly. "That's incredibly risky."

"I don't – I don't _care_ about the fucking risks," Rachel said, practically snapped, before she closed her eyes and shook her head regretfully. "I'm sorry, that's not – I _do _care. Of course I do, it's just . . . ," she sighed and hung her head, wiping fruitlessly at her eyes.

When her eyes met Santana's, the wandmaker felt her heart crack at the utter _desperation _swirling in streaming chocolate orbs.

"I-I _need _her, _please_," she whispered so quietly, Santana was depending on her lip reading skills in order to understand her. "She's the only one I have left. I just need to know that-that she's _okay_."

Santana closed her eyes and brought a hand to her forehead to rub away the headache that was beginning to throb. This shit . . . this shit was just too much. She looked up at the Empath that seemed to be staring directly into her brain.

"Okay," she murmured, resisting the urge to look away from the hopeful smile that was growing on Rachel's lips, "but not tonight."

Any hint of a smile was gone in an instant and Rachel looked as if she had been slapped. Her face seemed to crumple and she closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"_Please . . ."_

"Rachel, you _can't," _she said softly and firmly, willing her body to ignore the annoying pangs of sympathy. "I said I would keep you _safe_. You saved my life, now it's _my turn _to try and save yours. Letting you go to Puck's is the exact opposite of that. At least for tonight let me scope the place out and _if_ it seems like everything's legit then _maybe _– "

She sentence dropped off into silence when Rachel morphed and slinked out of the bathroom without even a parting glance, her tail dragging behind her. The Latina stared after the cat and let out a tired breath at the sound of the bedroom door closing. She brought a hand to her forehead and leaned her elbow on her knee.

" – you can see her," she whispered to herself, rubbing at her temples.

Those two were going to be the cause of a slow and annoying death of her.

* * *

><p>Puck stared hard at the faces pinned to the wall of his cubicle, more specifically the one of Quinn Fabray. After looking over her folder and talking to her last night, he was almost positive that she had been telling the truth. He could believe that she means well. He wouldn't doubt her sincerity when she claimed to worry about the Lopezs' safety. He could clearly see the regret and pain that she was in, even when she tried so hard to conceal it. He believed her, he truly did.<p>

But she was protecting something.

Something she deemed to be far more important than herself because, otherwise, Puck was sure she wouldn't have even bothered coming here. No, she had to be protecting something and Puck would even wager that it wasn't a matter of what, but a matter of _who. _Her father was dead, her mother was unresponsive and her sister had been spotted numerous times working with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, it couldn't be any of them. Her only friend worked for the Ministry in Britain so his options had run almost completely thin.

So, maybe it wasn't someone she had a history with.

Puck shifted his eyes to the picture next to Quinn's.

Rachel Berry; the only other convict that was still unaccounted for, at least to common knowledge. It _could_ be her. Both of them were currently missing. Both had disappeared the same day and, sure, the escapees who have already been recaptured said that they didn't see her with them on that night, but it doesn't mean that she wasn't there. Besides, he saw how Quinn reacted when he mentioned her. That look on her face . . . there was something there. It was small, but it was definitely there. In a weird turn of events, it really could be Rachel.

Of course, then again, it just wouldn't make sense.

Why would Quinn go through all of this trouble to protect Rachel? Their paths never seemed to have crossed before. They weren't the same age, they didn't go to the same school, and their families were most likely enemies. Rachel wasn't even a Death Eater and, for all intents and purposes, probably hated every single one of them and with great, justified reason. She was also arrested in 1984 right after completing her studies at Hogwarts, _four years_ before the murder of Russell Fabray, so for Rachel to be the one that Quinn was protecting would be a huge stretch at best.

Maybe Rachel didn't even escape with them. Or she did, but took the first chance that she could get to break away from the rest of the pack without being noticed and was hiding somewhere on the other side of the world. And maybe Quinn was really just protecting herself or maybe even the animals – Puck made a mental note to ask Quinn about them later – that she brought with her from Britain. Maybe he's reaching a little too far for the answers.

But that _look_ . . .

The double doors to the department opened and one of his colleagues strolled lazily through, putting on his robe as he walked. Puck quickly stood up from his seat and leaned his arms across the top of his cubicle wall.

"Hey, Joe," he called to the wizard with the long dreadlocks and twinkling blue eyes. Joe Hart turned to him and walked over with a nod and a grin.

"What's up, Puckerman?" he asked as he held out his hand in a friendly greeting and Puck grabbed it in a firm shake.

"Are you going to the Lopez's right now?"

Joe rolled his eyes; he didn't really understand the point in going to the Lopezes in the first place. Paranoia was what it boiled down to, he was sure. "Yeah, I was just going to meet Karofsky in the lobby."

"Great, you think I can tag along with you guys?" Puck asked, hiding his devious smirk by turning his head to cruise one of the female Aurors that walked by them. "It's Marcy's birthday in a few days, I want to see what she'd want."

Joe grinned because he knew how much of a softy Puck was when it came to little Marcy Lopez. He let out a small chuckle and waved him along. "Come on then."

Puck grinned like an excited child, but tried to hide it by picking up his robe because, even though he was using her as a way to manipulate his coworkers, he really did love that kid to death. He followed Joe out of the department, leaving a note on his desk to inform whoever needed him of his whereabouts.

When they got to the elevator he began to feel nervous, hoping to Merlin that the Lopezes had the foresight to prepare for their arrival.

* * *

><p>Brittany hummed as she directed the duster with her wand. Her smile continuously grew as she watched it dance over her books and charms and joined it with a little sway of her hips. She directed the duster to the round table and let it sweep the top of Bamboo's head.<p>

"_Hel-lo to Bam-boo, so glad to see yo –" _she paused her singing to stare hard into the plastic eyes of the teddy bear, a frown quickly overtaking the happy smile. Then her eyes widened and she spun on her heel to rush up the stairs, the duster falling lifelessly to the floor.

Santana and the customer that she was helping watched her wife run up to their home in confusion. The balding wizard turned to the wandmaker with an arched eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"

Santana turned to him with a smile, strained when she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall, and nodded.

"She must've forgotten something."

Brittany hurried through the hallway, giving a reassuring smile to Marcy who was watching television in the living room. She didn't stop to knock on Rachel and Quinn's door and burst into their room almost out of breath. Rachel looked up at her from beneath the sheets of the bed with a startled _meow _and Brittany didn't even stop to explain. She walked up to the bed and scooped the cat up securely in her arms. She stepped away from the bed and, with a wave of her wand, it took itself apart and arranged itself neatly in their walk I closet. In its place appeared an enormous cat bed with a blanket lying rumpled on the cushions, little brown and tan furs clinging to the fabric. The dresser was next as it shrunk and separated into three metal bowls: a gigantic one filled half way with water, a slightly smaller bowl dented and fit for a lion, and a tiny one for Rachel. Brittany stepped back and gave the room a once over before nodding in satisfaction and turning to walk to the stairs.

"Marcy, baby," she called to her daughter who paused her movie and sat up on her knees in attention. "Come say hi to Uncle Puck."

The little girl shot up from the floor like a rocket and took off down the stairs with Brittany and Rachel trailing behind her, the small cat tensing in the witch's arms. Puck was back _again? _She was _tired _of that man always being here. The front door to the store opened when they made it down stairs and in walked the three Aurors. Marcy let out a little squeal and rushed into the waiting arms of the mohawked wizard.

"There's my girl," he cooed softly as he picked her up and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Hi, Uncle Puck!" she returned the kiss with a big _muah _and smiled brightly. "Guess what Thursday is."

Puck pretended to think and hummed with a shake of his head. "My birthday?"

"Noooo," she giggled, ruffling the strip of hair on his head. "_My _birthday."

"Oh, that's right," he chuckled and walked them over to Brittany and Rachel. "Well, tell me what you want."

"A broom!" she told him with sparkling hopeful eyes. "Like the one Mama has!"

Puck raised his eyebrows in surprise and Santana rolled her eyes behind them.

"_Marcy_," she scolded as she shook hands with Joe and Karofsky, "what did we say?"

Marcy turned her head and pouted. "Not until I'm older."

"I thought you wanted a doggie," Puck said with small frown. "Like the one I got."

"You get her another pet, Puck, and I'm going to shove your wand up your ass _sideways_," Santana grumbled, making the other two Aurors chuckle before talking quietly with the wandmaker.

Puck smirked and set her down on the floor, pausing for a moment to whisper into her ear.

"A broom it is."

Marcy bit her lip and hugged his legs tightly, mumbling a succession of 'thank you's into his stomach. Puck placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair like a puppy before turning to her mother. "Don't tell Santana."

Brittany smiled at him and shook her head. "I will not defend you when she finds out."

"Fair enough," he shrugged and dropped his eyes to the cat in Brittany's arms, sighing when the feline seemed to shrink away from him. They turned to watch the interaction between Santana and the Aurors. "How're the animals?"

Brittany didn't say anything for a while, peeking at Puck in her peripherals. She bit her lip to keep the truth from tumbling out of her mouth without her permission and distracted herself by waving jovially at the two other wizards when they looked over. She spoke in a quiet whisper out of the corner of her mouth.

"The lion's gone."

Rachel closed her eyes and buried her face into Brittany's arms, and Puck turned to her, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"_Gone? _But what about, you know," he glanced over at his colleagues that were closing up the shop, "Won't she be upset that you just got rid of one of her pets?"

Brittany's lip curled in a secret sort of smile. "There was no _getting rid _of; the lion will be back. We simply needed to send her somewhere else for the time being. I'm sure she'llunderstand, the lion can take care of herself," she said confidently, with a firm nod of her head. She lifted Rachel up and turned her to face Puck, ignoring the protesting _meow. _"As long as this one remains unharmed, she'll be happy."

She let Rachel curl back into her chest as she greeted the other Aurors. Puck dropped his eyes to the cat that peeked at him from under Brittany's arm, those brown eyes fleeting away from his when they made contact. Maybe he could allow Quinn to keep her cat while he investigated her. It may put her at ease. There's no harm in that.

He could handle a simple cat.

"So, if you could just hand us your wands, we'll take a little tour around the place. This shouldn't take more than ten minutes," Dave Karofsky said as he ruffled Marcy's hair making her giggle. Santana and Brittany handed over their wands as per procedure and allowed the Aurors freedom to check the store before they took them up to their home. Once Karofsky made his way to the basement where they kept their storage and Joe went to check the office/Santana's work room, Marcy was sent back upstairs to finish her movie while the three of them huddled together to speak in hushed tones.

"How is everything?" Santana asked and stared into Puck's eyes. When he opened his mouth, she cut him off with a wave of her hand. "And don't try to pull that '_I know only rumors'_ shit, okay? You had all night to get your answers."

"Can we _not _talk about this, now?" he hissed as Joe came out of the office, whistling a nameless tune and wandering the wand stacks behind the counter.

Santana sighed and crossed her arms, turning to watch Joe, "I'm coming over tonight."

Puck hummed to show that he heard her and nodded at Karofsky who was walking leisurely up the stairs. "Find anything down there?"

"There ain't shit down there, bro, but a maze of boxes. I almost got lost and suffocated in the cloud of dust that got kicked up," he brushed off his robes and stood with the group. Dave looked over at Joe who was engrossed in a book from Brittany's side of the store and sighed. "Hart!"

Joe almost dropped the book and turned his head in a daze. "Huh?"

The other Auror rolled his eyes. "You done?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah," then he held up the book in his hands with a smile directed toward Brittany. "I'm going to buy this. I need this in my life."

Brittany beamed and placed Rachel in her wife's hands before skipping to the Auror and grabbing the book from him. "I'll write this up while Santana shows you guys our home."

Joe said his thanks and walked over to where the others were waiting for him, chuckling quietly to himself at the very uncomfortable way Santana was cradling the small cat. The wandmaker led the men up the stairs, letting Brittany's faint humming soothe her as she thought frantically about any possible giveaway to Quinn and Rachel's stay here that they might've forgotten. The last thing they needed were two moreAurors in their business.

Rachel squirmed out of Santana's arms when they reached the top landing and scampered towards her bedroom. Marcy crawled after her, leaving Santana to turn the television off. The wandmaker scratched the back of her neck and looked between the three wizards.

"So . . . is there, like, a proper way to do this or whatever?"

Karofsky shrugged. "In situations like this, we'd have you show us around and we'd perform some spells, but we'll probably just peek into the bedrooms since we've been here before. And then we'll be finished with enough time to go take a long lunch for Happy Hour in one of those Muggle places," he turned to a smirking Joe and they high fived each other.

Santana rolled her eyes and led the group of wizards to the long hallway, taking them all the way down to her and Brittany's bedroom first. Dave and Joe walked in while Puck and Santana talked quietly amongst themselves, joined a little later by Brittany who had a gift wrapped book in her hands. After they deemed the room to be clear of fugitives, Santana took them to the beginning of the hallway to Marcy's bedroom which the Aurors didn't even bother going into. Looking into the light baby blue room, filled nearly to the brim with animal posters and stuffed toys, there was no way the Lopezes would hide anything remotely dangerous where their daughter sleeps.

Which left only one room.

"Okay, hold on a second," Karofsky stopped them just before they entered Rachel and Quinn's room. He glanced hesitantly at the door. He knew the Lopezes would not be _stupid _and leave a large predator to roam their hallways at night, no matter how well trained it seemed (it wasn't too fond of Santana, either). They had to give it a bedroom and Karofsky wished that they could just look at the door and be done with their half assed search. "I understand that you got some new, uh, pets. Is the lion restrained or do we need protection or something?"

Brittany patted him on the shoulder with a soothing smile. "Your fear is amusing, but the lion was sent somewhere else for the time being. What lies behind this door is merely a small cat that is more scared of you than you are of her."

She didn't give them a chance to respond or turn away as she pushed open the door and they all paused in the doorway to observe Marcy lying on the circular pillow and whispering to an intently listening cat. When Rachel caught a glimpse of them, she immediately stiffened and burrowed under the blanket that was covering their bodies. Marcy seemed a little startled by Rachel's sudden movement and looked up at the four intruders. She waved at them briefly before joining the cat under the covers and continuing their muffled conversation.

Brittany tipped into Santana's side and cooed at their adorable daughter as the two Aurors cautiously crept into room despite the assurance of safety from Brittany. There wasn't much to look at, except the dismantled bed in the closet. Puck leaned against doorway as Joe and Dave tried to peek around the furniture for any sort of clues. He knew that bed, made to look unused, was Quinn's and that if these Aurors were to have done their job and casted some sort of disenchanting spell, they would know that this room was exactly the evidence they were sent to find.

He was almost annoyed with their lazy incompetence.

It didn't take long for the Aurors to become bored with their search and deem their job finished. It was with a quick, grinning goodbye that the two Aurors gave them back their wands apparated away with a couple of soft _pops, _leaving Puck by his lonesome as the two witches stared at him expectedly. The tense silence was gratefully cut when Marcy informed Rachel that "I think being a Chaser would be pretty cool, even though my Mama was the bestest Seeker in the whole wide world."

The focus immediately shifted to a smug and smirking Santana, who shrugged her shoulders as if to say "you're fucking right, I am." Brittany shot a toothy grin at her wife and kissed her on the cheek while Puck just rolled his eyes. He motioned his head towards the living room and the two witches nodded before turning to their daughter.

"Baby girl," Santana called, winking at the little witch when she poked her head out of the covers. "We'll be in the other room talking. Be good for B."

Santana let her eyes linger on the cat's that peeked at her from the pillow before she led the other two back to the living room. She knew Rachel and Marcy were going to eavesdrop, but she'd let them because they deserved the answers as well. Puck took a seat in his favorite armchair while Santana and Brittany cuddled on the sofa next to him, their eyes falling on him expectantly.

"I have to reopen the shop in ten minutes, so this needs to be quick," Santana said, laying her head on her wife's shoulder and waving at him to talk like he were a jester in her castle. Puck sighed and kicked his feet on top of the coffee table.

"So far, your girl checks out," he informed them quietly, restraining the reflexive smile at Brittany's squeal of excitement. Santana almost smirked.

"So, she's not evil?"

"She's a guilt ridden burden, is what she is," Puck rolled his eyes. "But, no, she doesn't seem very evil. At the moment."

"Then it won't be long before – "

"She's still a murderer, though," he interrupted Brittany, his eyes stern and unwavering. "She's still a Death Eater and she still has a history of crimes that she hasn't accounted for. I still have questions. She's not off the hook."

Brittany frowned while Santana nodded in understanding. She knew it wasn't going to be that easy to clear Quinn's name, if it were even possible. Merlin, sometimes she forgot why she's trying in the first place.

"So, then you must have a question for us," she stated. "Spill."

Puck cut his eyes to Brittany, who stared back at him unfazed and calm like she had expected him to turn to her. "Quinn said your relatives sent her here."

"Just Sammy," Brittany told him, always happy to talk about her dear cousin. "He's the awesomest."

Puck arched an eyebrow. Brittany had a big family and half of them still lived in Europe, so there were many suspects. He's even gone to a couple of their family reunions, but she had so many cousins and he was so wasted every time, he couldn't remember a Sammy if his life depended on it.

"You won't know him," Santana said, watching his face with a slight amused upturn of her lips. "The Evanses are assholes."

Brittany nudged her wife roughly with an indignant roll of her eyes. "_Sammy _isn't like any other Evans. He's an Auror now; they probably don't want anything to do with him. I even hear he's in a super secret club that's about phoenixes, too. He's totally trustworthy, Puck, I promise."

Puck stayed quiet for a moment as he let the information roll over in his brain. He could put the pieces together in his head easily; Quinn and Sam were set, probably against their will, to be the next generation of Death Eaters in their family's bloodlines. When Quinn was caught and jailed, Sam could've turned away from the family business. Once again, it came down to trusting Brittany's word and Puck knew that he couldn't keep doing things this way if the result could end up re-releasing a dangerous and known murderer into the world.

He'd need more information.

"I've gotta get back to work," he stood up and straightened out his robe, glancing at his watch before looking at Santana. "What time are you coming over tonight?"

"After dinner," Santana answered as she and Brittany stood up to walk Puck out. "I gotta make sure you're keeping your end of your deal." She glanced behind her shoulder before walking down the stairs at the hallway where she knew Marcy and Rachel were eavesdropping.

She knew she'd have to sneak away if she wanted to make sure Rachel wouldn't try to hitch a ride to Puck's.

* * *

><p>Quinn was in a state of bliss.<p>

Her mark had begun to burn while Puck was at work and by the time he returned she was a quivering, sweating mess on her cot. To Puck's credit, he acted quickly, conjuring up the necessary medical supplies to re-bandage her mark and lathered her arm in a numbing paste before practically freezing her with a more than efficient cooling charm. Then he gave her an electric blue potion that tasted sweet like juice and her body and mind were buzzing with a tingly sort of euphoria that made her forget that she had an arm, let alone a body to begin with. The Dark Lord's burning call wasn't even a memory for her as she leaned comfortably against the wall on her cot. Puck's gorgeous Akita, Mila, was lying next to her, keeping the left side of her body warm as her fingers unconsciously sifted through her soft fur. Next to them, sitting on the floor, was Puck crumbling a blue herb that stuck to his fingers on a thin cigarette paper.

"Is that – is that marijuana?" she asked. "For calming potions?"

Puck chuckled and nodded his head. "It's a _drug_ to muggles, you know. Fucking illegal. I'm surprised they even know what this shit is."

Quinn blinked. "It's blue."

"I made a few changes to it," he licked the joint closed with a smirk. "It's not very common for us to smoke it when we can make much better shit, right, but it's really a _magnificent_ plant. Those crafty bastards will make you an entire three course meal with it and having you feeling _great."_

"What did you do to it?" She's never smoked marijuana, she's never even considered it. But she's had her fair share of Calming Draughts that she could get the general lazy idea of how it must feel for a muggle. However, she's only seen _green _marijuana.

"I just tweaked it a little bit. It's marijuana without any of the unwanted side effects. You know, sleepiness, laziness, coughing insatiable hunger – things like that," Puck pulled out his wand and lit the tip, letting a curl of bright blue smoke escape his lips before inhaling it all into his lungs. He exhaled and it smelled like . . . like blueberry taffy. Definitely not like the plant they used in potion making. The Auror almost laughed at Quinn's captivated stare. "You, uh, you really won't be able to understand unless you try it."

Quinn eyed the joint being offered to her warily. "Really?"

"Sure," Puck shrugged. "It'll help with conversation."

The blonde glanced at Puck before picking it up between her thumb and forefinger. She inhaled and expected a sort of burn in her throat, but it went in as smooth as air. The exhale felt the same and she watched as the thick smoke flew away like ghostly dragons. She passed it back with a small smile.

"You made it taste like candy."

Puck laughed and nodded his head as he stuck the joint in his mouth and picked up Quinn's folder from the Ministry. "Yes, you have to keep people coming back for more."

"I see," Quinn closed her eyes as an immediate fuzzy, floaty but all around calm feeling fell over her. She had no idea she could get such an effect merely by smoking the marijuana. Why were they wasting their time brewing it in potions? "So . . . you sell drugs?"

"I've _created _drugs," Puck boasted as he took another hit. "But, no, I don't sell anymore."

"Because of your job?"

"Because it's a shitty lifestyle."

Quinn gave a short hum and glanced over at him in her peripherals. "I can understand that."

Puck chuckled and shook his head, offering the joint again. "You know, I've been reading up on you."

"I should hope so," Quinn whispered with a roll of her eyes. Why else would she be here, anyway?

"And you're quite the enigma," he said, ignoring Quinn's quip. "You seemed to have disappeared for seven years after Voldemort's fall before your capture in '88. No one was even sure that you were a real Death Eater until you killed your father."

"Everyone knew," Quinn corrected him quietly, passing back the joint.

"But no one had the proof or any real reason to accuse _you_; the quiet, proper citizen and first witch to ever finish at the top of her class at Durmstrang," Puck replied, idly flipping through her folder. "I guess there's no hiding anything once you kill a member of the Ministry of Magic. You outed the whole family, really; you, your father, even your sister."

"My sister," Quinn breathed out, leaned her head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. In her mind flashed a quick, faint picture of the gorgeous blonde with the cold blue eyes, their Daddy's eyes, and sinister Fabray smirk. "Right."

Puck slowly let the smoke out of his mouth. "You forget you have a sister?"

"I wish I could," Quinn shrugged and rejected the joint being offered to her. "We never got along."

"Do you know where she is?"

"I haven't spoken to her in twelve years," the Death Eater drawled. "She could be dead, really."

Puck took his time as he stubbed out the half joint on the concrete floor. He knew for a fact that Francine Fabray wasn't dead; she had been spotted working with numerous Death Eaters over the years and had quite the hefty bounty on her head which was nowhere near as high as Quinn's, but enough to keep her in hiding. The disdain that dripped off of Quinn's words was something he'd file away for another time. He cleared his throat and flipped another page in her folder.

"What were you doing during the years between the time of Voldemort's fall and your capture?" He changed the subject and watched as Quinn's lips lifted in relief. The last person Quinn wanted to talk about was Frannie.

"I lived with Sam at his parent's house."

Puck arched an eyebrow. "With – with his parents?"

"Oh, Merlin, no," Quinn chuckled and shook her head as if that were a truly ridiculous thought. If there was a white sheep in a family of black ones it was Sam Evans. "Sam's parents wanted nothing more to do with him after he refused to get marked and they were definitely not very fond of me when I told them to go fuck themselves. But they were killed in the first war, so Sam got the house. I wasn't too keen on living with my family at the time, so I moved in with him. We both had a good bit of money to our name and we were able to live comfortably without having to do much."

"I see," the Auror began to smirk and wiggled his eyebrows. "So, you and Sam Evans are - what? Boyfriend and girlfriend ? Married?"

Quinn didn't answer right away and averted her eyes, wishing there were a window so that she'd at least have something to look at. It was literally them against the world for almost a decade and it was the darkest, loneliest, most uncertain time of their lives. There were many days where Quinn was just so miserable she could hardly bring herself to get out of bed. Finally, Quinn shook her head and turned her eyes towards Puck.

"No, we're – I mean, we _tried. _It's what was planned for us, what our parents wanted even before we were born, so we tried for _them. _But there wasn't – he's like my brother. It would've never worked out between us," she whispered, fidgeting with her fingers.

"What did you guys do for seven years then? You certainly kept out of the public eye."

"We did nothing," she told him calmly, letting the faint nostalgic feelings of ultimate lethargy crawl through her as she remembered the endless days she and Sam were forced to spend alone together with nothing but a library of books as their entertainment. Entertainment they had breezed through several times each. "Literally _nothing _because we couldn't do anything with the Ministry keeping a close eye on us and the Death Eaters searching for us. We were just tired of everything. It was . . . a difficult time." She let her voice drop and her eyes focused in on the fingers lying still in her lap. "I'm surprised I even survived it."

Puck stared. "Why?"

Quinn's dull golden orbs turned slowly upon him. "I was a _very_ miserable girl, Puckerman."

Puck frowned and let the implication of those words wash over them. If anything it helped Quinn's case a little; at least he knew she wasn't running around with the other Death Eaters during that time. He closed the folder and leaned back against the stone wall.

"For someone who is wanted for murder and escaping prison with some of the most dangerous witches and wizards in Britain, you really don't seem very miserable."

Quinn almost smirked. "You've drugged me."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Before that."

"You didn't know me before that," the Death Eater scoffed. "You had me arrested and medicated within the first hour of discovering me."

"So, I'm wrong? You were absolutely miserable even before I showed up?"

Quinn narrowed her eyes at him. They both knew he wasn't wrong and she wanted to hate him for that because Puck _didn't _know her. But in the past month and a half that she'd been free, he's right, she's never been happier.

However, that had nothing to do with being a Death Eater.

"No, you're not wrong," she almost sneered at his smug face. "But you learn very quickly that you've never been truly miserable until you've existed in a place like Azkaban."

_Touché. _

Puck nodded his head in agreement; he didn't know what it was like to be in Azkaban and he's grateful. He's had the misfortune of being in the company of Dementors before and the thought of having to live with them everyday chilled his bones. He lit the joint again, ready to admit his defeat in this.

"How is it at the Lopezes then?"

"It's . . . fine," Quinn answered carefully as she stroked the fur on the back of Mila's neck. "Santana was very hostile at first, still is really, but Brittany and Marcy are more than friendly enough for it not to really bother."

Puck hummed, bringing his hand forward to pat his dog's nose fondly. "How'd you convince them to let you keep your pets?"

"What?" Quinn asked confused before she could stop herself.

"The lion and the cat," Puck elaborated with an arched eyebrow. "I assume they're yours?"

"Oh," the blonde breathed out, keeping her eyes on the Akita and the smirk off of her face. "Yes. It wasn't hard to convince Brittany."

Puck chuckled because he could believe that; he remembered the unicorns quite clearly. And the foxes. And the bear cubs. And the wolves. Brittany's the reason no one even thought twice about the Lopezes new pet lion.

"Was Sam taking care of them while you were in Azkaban?"

Quinn let the question hang for a moment; this had the potential to be very harmful to her _and _Rachel if Puck were to ever figure out the truth, but the last thing she wanted to do was to make Puck any more suspicious than he already was. She just nodded instead. "The lion's an old thing, about ten years or so. Sam was around when she was new. She's very close to my heart."

Puck hummed. "And the cat?"

"The cat's a . . . recent acquisition," Quinn answered, closing her eyes and visualizing the brunette beauty that she's missed so fiercely. "She found me around the time of my escape and she was skin and bones at first. She's the most important thing in my life right now."

"Really? Even more important than the lion?"

"Yes," Quinn answered firmly and without hesitation. "More important than anything."

Puck stared at the Death Eater that avoided his eyes.

"You'd die for that cat?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Quinn smiled. Why not? "Because she saved me."

A succession of loud knocks interrupted them and Mila bounded off the bed and up the stairs, barking joyously for more company. Puck stubbed out the joint on the floor again and stood up, stretching out his back. He glanced curiously at the witch who looked up at ceiling of the basement; not many people would die for a stray cat.

There's more to it, there had to be.

"That's just Santana," he told her and turned to walk up the stairs. "She's here to check on you."

He exited the basement and walked leisurely over to his front door, nudging Mila gently away from where she was sniffing at the crack under the heavy wood. He opened the door and smirked at Santana's impatient face.

"Sorry," he chuckled and stepped aside for her to enter. "I was entertaining my guest."

"I doubt that," Santana scoffed and brushed past him, scratching Mila behind her ears and making her way towards the basement. "She still in her chains?"

"No chains," Puck corrected her with a wave of his hand. "I've been treating her well. She's down there."

Santana hummed and descended the stairs, slowing to a stop at the glassy hazel eyes that stared at her. She crossed her arms and took a big whiff, rolling her eyes at the distinct smell still in the air. She turned to Puck.

"So, first you give her a hallucinogen and then you get her high?" Santana scowled. "Remind me to never let Marcy sleep over here."

Puck scoffed and Quinn quirked an eyebrow. "A hallucinogen?"

"Wha – she told me to give it to you in the first place," Puck defended himself, pointing an accusatory finger at Santana. The wandmaker rolled her eyes.

"Your maturity is glaring, Puckerman," she drawled.

Quinn narrowed her eyes. "And just exactly how many drugs have you given me since I've been here?"

"Just three," Puck grumbled making the Death Eater glare at him. Santana smirked.

"You should be happy," she told her, "he's giving you a temporary home and free drugs. At a different age I would've been very jealous."

Quinn gave her a dry grin. "Well, if you want, we can switch spots."

The wandmaker chuckled and turned to Puck. "Go make us some tea or something."

Puck narrowed his eyes at her because he knew that she just wanted him to give them some privacy. But with the imminent danger of the situation on his mind, _privacy _could mean deception. Whatever they had to say to each other, they could say in front of him, right?

"Puck," Santana said firmly, "I'm here to see if you're treating her right and I can't do that with you breathing down our necks. Trust me and give us five fucking minutes, please."

Puck sighed and shook his head. "Growing a soft spot for the criminal, Santana?"

"She's still here so it's safe to assume that you have as well."

"Whatever," the Auror grumbled and made is way up the stairs, Mila following obediently behind him. "Five minutes."

They two witches waited until he was gone and even then he left the door cracked open. Santana crossed her arms and ran her eyes over Quinn, looking for any evidence of abuse.

"How's it going?" she asked quietly, leaning against the wall. Quinn just shrugged with her eyes droopy and calm. "A little stoned?"

Quinn chuckled. "Something like that."

There was a moment of tense silence as Quinn stared at her hands and Santana picked at her nails. It was only a matter of seconds before the Death Eater could no longer hold in the burning question.

"How is she?" Quinn whispered, all too aware that Puck was just in the kitchen. Santana pursed her lips, scrambling the words in her head so she wouldn't reveal too much information to their potentially eavesdropping host.

"She's . . . alive," she answered, looking away from Quinn's sharp stare. "These past couple of days have been hard on her."

Quinn frowned and closed her eyes. She didn't want Rachel to hurt, that's exactly what she's dedicated her life to prevent. She just wanted to hold her. Tell her that she's fine and that she'll see her again somehow.

She _had_ to see her again.

"Look," Santana said, glancing up the stairs to make sure Puck wasn't hanging by the door, but he could hear him talking to Mila in the kitchen and the clanging of pans. Even so, she lowered her voice. "I can bring her here –"

"No."

Santana furrowed her eyebrows, taken aback by the abrupt response. "It's not like she'll be – she's still a cat – "

"She doesn't come here," Quinn said firmly, her eyes popping open in a fierce blaze of gold. "Don't let her come anywhere near here."

Santana stared at the blonde, surprised and not willing to show it. She hummed.

"She's not going to like that."

Quinn shook her head and looked away. "She's not safe here."

Santana scoffed. "She's not safe anywhere."

The blonde growled and glared at Santana. "She's safe with me."

"No, she's not," the wandmaker said, standing up straight. "She's a witch wanted for murder that ran off with a Death Eater. She'll never be safe."

"But she's free," Quinn whispered desperately, leaning her head sideways against the wall. "You have no idea what a true nightmare Azkaban was. We were _dying_ there. And if we're caught . . . Merlin, we'll be worse than dead. I got her into this. I can't - I _won't _allow Rachel to get recaptured. I promised I wouldn't let her get hurt, so if that means keeping her away from-from _me _while I'm _here, _then-then so be it."

Santana watched as the tears leaked down Quinn's cheeks and winced at her cracking voice. She looked down at her feet. "You're still free, too, you know."

The blonde gave a dry laugh and shook her head, the tears flying off her face to stain the thin mattress. "I'm guilty, Santana. We both know it, Puck knows it, the whole of Britain knows it as well. My many bad decisions won't be wiped away by my one good one. You said it yourself, I'm tattooed with a sign of evil. It will always be there. Even if the war ends and the Ministry gets a change of heart, I'd probably still be taken back to Azkaban to finish serving my life sentence. Rachel . . . ," she closed her eyes as the name tumbled off of her tongue, "She could _stay_ free. Sh-she didn't belong there in the first place and people know that. She's so-so innocent."

Santana frowned.

"But she's _not_ innocent."

Quinn wiped weakly at her eyes and sighed. In her mind, Rachel will always be innocent. No one would ever be able to tell her any different. She knew what evil was and Rachel _couldn't _be evil.

"Please, don't bring her," she whispered. "I'll-I'll find my way back to her somehow, but she doesn't need to be here."

Santana pursed her lips. She was so sick and tired of Rachel walking around with her sad little cat eyes and her tail dragging along the floor. The _only thing _that would make her remotely happy would be if she could just see this stubborn ass blonde. She huffed out an annoyed breath and rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she went back to picking her nails. "Break her heart, what do I care?"

"Fuck off," Quinn mumbled with a sniff, but almost wanted to smile. Santana was really starting to care for Rachel and doing a very poor job at hiding it. She wiped at her eyes and glanced at the wandmaker leaning heavily against the concrete wall. "You'll take care of her if I don't get out of this, won't you?"

Santana glared at Quinn and shrugged. "She saved my arm so, whatever, I guess."

This time, Quinn let the small smile emerge.

"Thanks," she whispered and Santana gave the tiniest of nods. She cleared her throat and sat up a little more on her cot. "Puck said a couple of Aurors went to your house?"

"Yeah, thanks for that," Santana spat.

Quinn winced. "Sorry – "

"No, it's – ," the wandmaker shook her head and sighed. "It's fine; it wasn't _all_ your fault anyway. A couple of Death Eaters were caught in the woods outside of the Alley shortly after Puck took you in."

Quinn stiffened. "What happened?"

"Well, they're searching for you, obviously. They know you're in the area."

Quinn fell back against the wall with a small groan and shook her head. "So, what does that mean?"

Santana shrugged. "The Aurors checked the house and found nothing that proves that you guys live here, so we're fine for now. Vertic Alley will probably just turn into an Auror cesspool until the Death Eater's give up, I guess."

"They'll never give up," Quinn whispered sorrowfully. She didn't want to think about what that ultimately meant.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Well, when Voldemort fucking dies then you'll live your life peacefully in hiding with your little dwarf like the fugitives you are. Until then, just be grateful you have people willing to watch over your stupid asses."

"Yeah, I guess." Quinn scoffed softly and gave Santana a small, amused grin. "Thanks."

"You're lucky Brittany likes you," the wandmaker said, pushing off the wall and walking towards the stairs.

"Yeah, _Brittany, _I'm sure,_" _the blonde teased, her eyes shining with a small amount of mirth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Santana mumbled. "I fucking hate you guys."

Quinn just laughed and slid down to lie comfortably on her cot. "I hate you too, bitch."

Santana chuckled and took a couple of steps up the staircase. She paused and turned back around to look at the witch who had her eyes closed.

"You gonna come up?"

"You've exhausted me," Quinn answered with a smirk.

"I've exhausted a lot of girls," she quipped as Quinn snorted and shook her head. The wandmaker ascended the stairs with another chuckle. "I'll be back. Behave yourself."

A noncommittal hum was her only response as she left the door cracked open. She turned into the kitchen to find Puck pouring out some dog food for Mila and a couple of glasses of whiskey waited for them on the table. The aroma of gumbo wafted from the pot on the stove.

"That's smells good."

Puck looked up at her as he ran his fingers through the Akita's fur. "None for you."

"Brittany's a better cook anyway," Santana said as she sat down at the table and took a sip from the glass in front of her. She reached over to slide Quinn's folder in front of her and idly flipped it open, eyeing the names on the rest of the folders in her peripherals. "So, what do you think of her?"

"Uh, Brittany's pretty hot, I guess."

Santana kicked the chair across from her so that it skidded on the floor and hit Puck in his calves. "She's _very _hot. Stop looking at my wife."

Puck laughed and took a seat, taking a generous sip from his own cup. He cleared his throat and nodded at the folder in front of the wandmaker. "What do _you _think of her? You live with her."

Santana bid her time, gulping back the bitter whiskey. There are a lot of things she thought about Quinn. She winced as the liquid burned her throat.

"I think she couldn't care less about her own wellbeing," she answered casually as she swirled the ice in her glass.

"I don't believe that."

"No?"

"If she didn't care about her wellbeing then she wouldn't be here in the first place."

"True," Santana arched her eyebrow, "but she's not just traveling by herself, is she?"

Puck looked incredulous. "All this for a lion and a kitty cat?"

"Why not? What else does she have?" The wandmaker watched as Puck frowned. "It would be different for us. I have a wife and a daughter and, shit, you have friends and a _mom. _Quinn doesn't really have a family. She hardly even has friends and the only one she has had to send her here. If you were in her place and all you had was Mila, and you hated yourself as much as she probably hates herself, who the fuck would matter more to you? You or your dog?"

"That's not – " Puck huffed and shook his head. "There's ways around that. She could leave them with you guys and – "

"_Please," _Santana barked out a laugh. "Unless she gets taken back to prison or _dies, _the only person she ultimately trusts to take care of them is herself."

Puck sighed in frustration, but before he could respond, there was a small brush against his leg. Lying down by his feet was Mila, her mouth opened wide in a yawn. He felt himself deflate as he realized that, if it were between him and Mila, he'd choose her every time. He snatched his glass up and took a generous gulp, shaking his head again.

"I don't know what to do with this witch, San," he admitted in a whisper, dropping his hand to rake through the Akita's fur. "In regards to her crimes and her past associations with Voldemort, she's guilty and that's ultimately what it all boils down to. It's my job –"

"Oh, _stop_ with that Auror superiority complex, Puckerman," Santana snapped with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You lost your right to use your duties as an Auror as an excuse when you decided to take her in. So now, unfortunately, you'll have you revert back to your old, pussy chasing, drug dealing ways."

Puck glared at her. "Bitch. You gonna let me talk?"

"Sorry. Go on." Santana held her hands up and sat back in her seat. Puck rolled his eyes.

"I'm just doing this to protect you guys, you know," he said, crossing his arms across his chest. "I don't think she's dangerous – or, really, I don't think she wants to _harm_ any of us. The pussy chasing, drug dealing me believes that this is a matter that shouldn't be solved using the black and white laws of the Ministry of Magic. But I can't just . . . Merlin, she's being followed by a group of _murderers_, Santana. Sure, they haven't hurt anybody, yet, but they will if they want to. I can't just send her back to you guys so that the Death Eaters go to _your _house instead to get her."

Santana shrugged. "I can take them."

"That doesn't matter," he told her. "Unfortunately, Santana, _you_ can't go back to your pussy chasing, drug dealing ways. You lost that right when you married Brittany and had Marcy. Quinn is an unnecessary risk and _none_ of you need to be involved with this."

"But we _are _involved in this," the wandmaker retorted. "Your valiant efforts are a little too late."

"Except no one _knows _that you guys are involved in this, right? Quinn's a very smart and powerful witch. As far anyone, including those fucking Death Eaters, knows she could be in New York City living as a muggle, squatting in some abandoned building," Puck held up a hand when Santana opened her mouth. "I know there are rumors, but that's all they are. No one's found any proof that you guys are hiding anything; they only have a Death Eater's guess, at best. But if something happens and they find Quinn at your house, it's all over for you guys."

"Well, what about you? What makes you so fucking special that you can keep Quinn and we can't?"

"What makes me special is that I have less to lose," he actually smiled when Santana scoffed. "I don't have a wife, I don't have a girlfriend, and I don't have a daughter. If I get caught with her the only person that will get in trouble is me and I'm an Auror, so there's a chance that I might not get into that much trouble anyway."

"Or you might get into more," Santana said and she rolled her eyes when Puck just shrugged. "What about your mom?"

"My sister will still be there."

She shook her head. "That's so – I just don't believe you."

Puck frowned. "Why not?"

"You have no reason to protect Quinn," she told him with hard, suspicious eyes. "For all _I _know, you want us to let you have her so that you can take her in without us stopping you."

Puck scoffed and crossed his arms, hiding the small pang of hurt her felt in his heart. "Because you have such a legit reason for protecting her, right?"

"I told you," Santana smirked, "the witch that actually promised to protect Quinn is my _wife_. That's all that matters to me."

"Yeah, well, I'm doing it because I'm an uncle to the little girl you call your daughter," he told her and Santana's gaze softened. "If you get caught with Quinn, the person that will be affected the most will be little Marcy and the last thing I want is for her to get hurt. It's safer for everybody if I keep her here."

Santana sat back in her chair, her jaw slightly unhinged as she gaped at the now uncomfortable Auror. "Oh."

Puck scratched at the back of his neck and avoided the wandmaker's eyes.

"Listen, I don't say this a lot because it's not very badass, but I love you guys," he said quietly, looking up to see a small smile on Santana's lips. "You're my best friends and I probably wouldn't be here today if not for the two of you. And Marcy is the closest thing I have to a daughter. I would do anything for you guys. All of you are set on keeping Quinn safe, so I'll help you even if means my ass because you guys are three of the most important people in my life."

There was a brief silence as they stared at each other, their faces void of the badass, emotionless masks they prefer to don in public. The wandmaker let out a _slightly _watery chuckle.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't even hear that," Santana's smile quivered and she turned her eyes stoically to the ceiling. "My eyes seem to be sweating."

"Right," Puck chuckled and stood up from the table to check on the gumbo. "This conversation never happened."

"Absolutely not."

"You're still the biggest bitch I know."

"And you're still an insufferable douche bag," Santana laughed and brushed away the rogue tear from her cheek. "I don't know why I put up with you."

Puck shrugged with a grin and waved his wand to turn off the stove and fill two bowls of the steaming soup. He placed one on the table and took the other with him as he walked towards his basement. Santana turned to watch him and when he disappeared down the steps, she pulled Rachel's folder over from the pile so that it sat next to Quinn's and waved her wand over them, duplicating them to the very last page. With another delicate twirl, the folders shrank to the size of her palm. Just as Puck's footsteps sounded on the stairs again, she gathered the files and slid them in her pocket. She placed Rachel's folder back in the middle of the pile and turned in her seat just in time to see Puck re-enter the living room empty handed. She smirked.

"You made her your special gumbo?" she called to him as she stood from the table and Puck just rolled his eyes. "Aw. That's sweet."

"What am I supposed to do, starve her even more?" he mumbled and plopped down in front of his own bowl of food. "She's skinny enough already after eight years in Azkaban."

"I suppose not," Santana just smiled at him, feeling infinitely better about leaving Quinn here with him. She pointed behind her. "I gotta head back to my girls. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Puck nodded with a spoonful of gumbo in his mouth, making some of the of the broth dribble down his chin. He wiped it with the back of his hand as Santana turned away from him with a grimace of disgust.

"You sicken me."

He merely chuckled and waved her off. Santana walked back down the steps of the basement, keeping the door cracked open again. Quinn looked up at her from her cot where she pushed her soup around with the spoon. The wandmaker nodded at her and stopped next to her bed.

"I'm leaving," she told her. "Brittany will probably be back tomorrow. Do you want her to bring you a bag of clothes?"

"Yes, please," Quinn whispered distantly. Santana sighed as the blonde continued to play with her food.

"You know," she whispered, making dull eyes look up at her, "I've been busting my ass to make sure your girl is eating while you've been gone. The least you could do is eat as well."

Quinn narrowed her eyes and brought a spoonful to her mouth, staring defiantly back at Santana. She looked back down at the soup and swallowed, pleasantly surprised by the wonderful taste of something she's never heard of before. Santana chuckled beside her.

"Yeah, he's an asshole sometimes, but Puck can make a fantastic gumbo," she told her as she whipped out her wand. "I'll see you later."

"Wait," Quinn stopped her just as she raised her wand. "Can – can you tell Rachel that I lo – ," she bit her lip and shook her head. If Rachel was going to hear the declaration, it had to come from her and no one else. She deserved that much. "That-that I miss her?"

Santana stared hard at the blonde who avoided her eyes and shook her head. Love sick coward. "Sure."

"Thanks," Quinn whispered with a small glance before filling her mouth again with soup. Santana just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said before apparating away to the comfort of her own kitchen. She had only just taken off her jacket when she heard footsteps creeping down the hallway. She turned around and was surprised, not because it was Rachel, but because she was actually human. The hesitant brunette looked as if she hadn't slept a wink and was gripping at the sleeves of the sweater that was slightly too big for her, Santana was sure it was Quinn's. Rachel walked forward, stopping just a few paces away from the table and Santana arched an eyebrow when she remained silent.

"Use your words," she teased.

"How is she?" Rachel whispered, her eyes wide and desperately worried. "Is she – she's okay, right?"

"She's completely fine,'' Santana answered with a sigh and a shake of her head. She glanced at those child-like eyes. "She made sure we were taking care of you."

Rachel gasped at the words and closed her eyes against the tears. She's so tired of crying, but she felt so _relieved _that Quinn was alive and – and thinking of her because she thought of Quinn every _second_ of the day. She stepped forward even more and looked at Santana, a hopeful tear hanging on the corner of her eye.

"She's fine?" Rachel gave a tiny smile at the nod. "So I can – I can see her, right? I mean, s-strictly as a cat, of course, but I can stay with her n – "

"You can't."

There was a thick silence after that. Rachel seemed to have frozen, mouth open mid-question, and eyes staring blankly into Santana's as she processed the quiet rejection. Her feet moved forward, tripping over themselves and dropping her into a chair so carelessly the legs slid slightly on the floor.

She looked betrayed.

"But you said . . ."

Then Santana looked away.

And Rachel just _knew._

"_Oh," _her voice quivered as she tightly gripped the backrest of her chair. She furrowed her eyebrows, staring off into space in front of her and her mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the words. Santana closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reigning in her frustration with all of this _shit. _She stepped forward to place her wand on the table.

"Rachel," she said quietly. "Quinn misses you – "

"She doesn't want to see me," Rachel whispered.

"That's bullshit," Santana said with a scoff. "You're her fucking reason for living; she'd do anything to see you."

"Then she should just _let me see her."_

The wandmaker crossed her arms across her chest as she stared down into those fierce eyes. She couldn't fucking win with these two. Every time she tried to help them out it was always, 'No, I have to protect my beloved,' or 'Please, I desperately need to see my fair Quinn.' It was tiring and confusing.

And Santana had just about enough of it.

"This isn't just about you guys anymore," she snapped in the softest voice she could muster. "The very _last_ thing that _any_ of us need to happen is for you to get caught, too. Maybe Quinn only cares about you, but I care about my family and _we_ can't risk anyone finding out about the other fugitive living with us if you were to be exposed. All of our freedom is on the line now, not just yours. So, you're going to _stop _being selfish, you're going to stay here, and you're going to let us figure everything out."

Rachel felt her heart slowly descend even lower as she realized the undoubted reason in Santana's words. She let her head drop and her shoulders sag in defeat, shaking her head weakly.

"Okay."

Santana almost groaned at the brunette's broken whisper because there was that telltale pang in her heart that told her that, yes, she was really starting to care for these criminals. She watched Rachel wipe at her eyes with the sleeve of Quinn's sweater and knew that she had to do something; this sympathy thing was making her sick.

"Listen, I _know_ the only thing Quinn wants is to be with you," she whispered and Rachel looked up at her. "Maybe there's a reason she's keeping you at a distance, something that goes beyond just wanting to keep you safe. And maybe I wish I knew her a little better so I could understand."

Rachel let out a teary sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, leaning her elbows on the table. She still had to restrain herself from blurting out that _maybe_ 'maybe' just didn't fucking cut it right now. They promised to be together; it was the two of them until the end.

What happened to that?

"I wish I knew her better, too," she said quietly.

Santana hummed, reached into her pocket, and dropped the two folders on the table where they immediately grew to size, startling Rachel into sitting up straight. She read the two names printed on the tabs and her eyes widened. An exaggerated yawn drew her away from watching her fingers as they traced over the cover of Quinn's history and she looked up at Santana.

"Well, I'm absolutely beat," she said, stretching her arms high above her head as she walked towards the hallway. "I'm just going to leave those there for tonight. Goodnight, dwarf."

Rachel listened to the fading footsteps, whispering a quiet 'good night' that she knew Santana didn't hear, far too busy staring at the files on the table. Even though they revealed so much to each other already, she still had many questions for Quinn. Her folder was packed, much thicker than her own. Oh, how she wanted to read every single page in there. Her curiosity coupled with the fact that it was simply _Quinn _she was reading aboutwas almost too much for her to handle. She flipped open the folder and was met with a mug shot, tired grey eyes staring directly into hers. She was immediately hit with a wave of guilt.

Quinn trusted her.

What would she be saying if she were to read all of her dirty secrets without her permission? She traced her fingers over Quinn's image, letting her eyes blur from the tears, and the picture frowned up at her. She felt like she was betraying her.

But she needed to understand.

With a deep sigh, she began to read Quinn's criminal report, promising herself that she wouldn't pass an ounce of judgment on Quinn until she spoke to her in person because no one would be able to tell her that Quinn wasn't a good person.

Even if it was Quinn herself.

* * *

><p>Puck arrived at the Ministry an hour earlier than he needed to be. He leaned back against the elevator as it took him down to the lowest floor where they kept their prisoners that were still waiting for their trial. He checked his watch; he wouldn't be off duty until after six, so he hoped the numbing paste he left by Quinn's cot would be enough to hold her over.<p>

That thought caused him to roll his eyes.

"You're going soft, Puckerman," he whispered to himself. He had even asked Brittany to bring her a bag of clothes.

He really needed to remember that Quinn was guilty until proven innocent.

The lift opened to a long dark, candle lit hallway of steel doors and the Auror made his way down to the very end, ignoring the criminals that shouted their insults at him. He gave the door one solid knock before walking in, glaring at the greasy brown haired wizard that sat up in his bed. With a quick wave of his wand, the bed sheet coiled and wrapped around his body, slamming him back down on his back and tying him tight to the mattress. Puck sneered down at him, a Dark Mark clear as day on the inside of his forearm.

"Hey! What – what is this!?" the Death Eater sputtered, twisting his body in an attempt to free himself as the door slowly began to shut. "You – you can't do this to – "

"You are a member of the most wanted group of criminals spanning over the past three generations. And you've just been caught invading our turf and put one of our men in the hospital wing," he put his hands in his robe pockets. "I can do whatever the fuck I want to do to you."

The Death Eater stopped struggling and seemed to shrink back into the cot.

"What do you want?" he croaked, his eyes wide and anxious.

Puck smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "I just have a few questions."

"I've answered all of your Ministry's questions – "

"I haven't asked you a damn thing yet, so shut the _fuck _up," he growled and the Death Eater flinched. "Now, why are you after Quinn Fabray?"

The wizard furrowed his eyebrows; he's answered that a hundred times already. "The Dark Lord demands that she be punished."

"For what? She's a valuable Death Eater from what I've read."

The wizard scoffed at the compliment. "He gave her freedom and the honor to stand by his side again, and she turned around and abandoned him. The only thing that's valuable about her is the price on her head and, trust me, the Ministry's reward is nowhere near as _desirable _as the Dark Lord's."

Puck arched an eyebrow and leaned back against the wall. "Well, then I'd like to help you find her."

"What?" The Death Eater's eyes widened in surprise and suspicion. "W-why?"

"Quinn Fabray is not our problem," he drawled. "So far, she's only caused Vertic Alley trouble in the form of more Death Eaters and we don't need that shit. And I think you _know _where she is. You know _exactly _where she is and you're going to tell me."

The Death Eater just stared at him for a moment. "It's not as easy as you'd think."

"Oh, but it must be," Puck retorted, his eyes steeling over. "You have all been hiding in the woods surrounding Vertic Alley for more than a month and if you guys had the balls to threaten a renowned, notoriously short-tempered wandmaker then you _must _know where she is."

The wizard was already shaking his head before Puck even finished his sentence.

"We-we can only guess," he groaned out as he continued to struggle against the bed sheets. "Our best guess was Lopez Wands."

"Well, your best guess just turned up shit. Try again."

The man growled. "It's not that simple! Do you know who Quinn Fabray _is? _She's more powerful than most people _without_ her wand; and if there's one thing she should be an expert at, it's keeping people off of her trail. All we can go by are _guesses_."

Puck narrowed his eyes. "And how do you come up with these 'guesses'? Because, Merlin, they're amazingly specific for you to narrow it down to _one_ house that's not even in your fucking country."

"I don't – I don't know."

There was a small, tense silence as the Death Eater shifted under Puck's blank stare. Then, with a quick, violent slash of his wand, the bed sheets began to tighten around the wizard's body, his eyes and veins bulging out of his face. Puck bent down until they were almost nose to nose.

"I am in no mood and you are in no position to _bullshit_ me."

"I-I'm not!" he wheezed, his face coloring rapidly. "I swear – I swear I don't know!"

"Then how did you know to come here to look for her?"

"They just tell me!" he would've shouted if he could, if he wasn't so frightened by his restricted breathing. "Please – please, I was just following his orders!"

"_Who?" _Puck barked.

Tears began steadily leaking down his cheeks. "T-the Dark Lord!"

Puck stared impassively into the Death Eater's panicked eyes and completely loosened the ties with shrug, leaning back against the stone wall.

"Well," he said, brushing the imaginary dust off of his robes as the Death Eater wheezed and panted desperately on his cot, "I didn't realize I was talking to a lackey. I'm sorry for wasting my time."

He turned and had exited the cell before the wizard had even caught his breath. He strolled back down the hall just in time to get a quick breakfast before he really needed to be at work, smirking directly in the faces of all the other prisoners that continued to yell at him.

* * *

><p>Brittany skipped down the stairs with a satchel over her shoulder and knocked a quirky jingle on her wife's office door a few minutes before they were supposed to open. She poked her head in the door and beamed at Santana who was sitting at her desk with Quinn's folder on her lap.<p>

"Hey, baby," Santana mumbled around her cup of coffee. They shared a kissed and Brittany hummed pleasantly at the lingering taste on her lips.

"You taste good," Brittany said, bringing a smile to the wandmaker's lips. "I'm going to Puck's to drop off a bag of clothes for Quinn."

"Where's Marcy?"

"Upstairs watching _The Lion King _again."

Santana nodded and looked up at the ceiling. "And Rachel?"

Brittany shrugged as she took a look at the newly whittled wands on the desk. "Resting. I'm sure she had a long, stressful night."

Santana nodded. She had found Rachel still sitting at the kitchen table when she woke up this morning, tired, red-from-too-much-reading eyes staring blankly at the folder the wandmaker was sure she read from cover to cover.

"Alright," she said. "How long will you be?"

"Five minutes?" Brittany grinned and leaned down to peck Santana's lips. "That's not too long for you, is it?"

Santana responded with a light slap to Brittany's ass as she walked back towards the door. She looked over her shoulder, giggling at her wife's playful smirk, and gave a small wave before popping out of sight.

She found herself outside of Puck's door, surrounded by tall trees and the songs of birds. She looked over to the window when the blinds shifted to the side and waved happily at the dog that peeked out at her. She giggled at the muffled barks and let herself in with a wave of her wand.

"Hi, baby girl!" Brittany cooed as she leaned down to hug an excited Mila. The dog squirmed out of her hold and began sniffing diligently at the sack on her back. Brittany stood up and pushed her nose away. "None of that, now."

She skipped over to the basement door and knocked before practically dancing down the stairs with Mila at her heels, still trying to get a good sniff at the satchel. Quinn's lips quirked up at the sight of Brittany and she sat up, turning to swing her legs off of her cot.

"Good morning," she whispered. Brittany smiled at her.

"Good morning," she chirped and placed the pack gently on the cot. "I brought you clothes."

"Thank you," she said as she watched Mila lift up on her hind legs to press her nose against her bag. "You put food in there or something?"

"No, Mila's just a curious thing," Brittany giggled and grabbed a hold of the dog's collar to pull her away. She bit her lip as her eyes travelled over Quinn's body. "How've you been? Puck treating you well?"

Quinn nodded. "Surprisingly."

"Puck's a big softie," she said quietly. "He's very good at seeing the grey, you know?"

"Yeah," Quinn whispered, leaning back against the wall. "I guess."

"You'll be fine, Quinn," Brittany giggled and began walking back towards the stairs, pulling Mila with her. "I have to get back to the shop. I'm sure we'll see you soon."

Quinn just smiled at her and Brittany waved before turning and walking out of the basement, Mila whining as she reluctantly followed her. Quinn listened for the pop of Brittany disappearing before she dragged the satchel over to her, grateful to not have to wear Puck's clothes anymore.

When she opened the bag, a pair of dark brown eyes looked up at her.

Her jaw dropped open as she watched the dark brown cat hop out of the pack and onto the floor, shaking out her fur. Quinn scooted forward on her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks and her hand shot to her mouth when the cat turned into the woman of her constant dreams.

"Rachel," she whispered, letting her eyes run over the haggard, but still absolutely beautiful form before her. She scrambled off of the bed and rushed forward to hold Rachel's face in her hands, making sure this wasn't just another hallucination. She cried out softly at the feeling of warm skin under her fingers and she wiped away the tears from the other girl's cheek with a watery chuckle. "Oh, Rachel, what are you doing here?"

Rachel sniffed and shook her head before bringing their lips together in a desperate, passionate kiss. Quinn's hands sifted through the brown hair, gripping the strands as she savored the feeling of soft lips against hers. She's been waiting for this kiss, to have Rachel in her arms again, for the past three days and she's never felt batter. Rachel pulled away when she ran out of breath, knowing that she could've died kissing Quinn, but she still had so much to say to her.

"I've missed you so much, Quinn," she whispered, leaning her forehead against hers. "So, so ,so much."

Quinn smiled and lifted Rachel up so her legs wrapped around her waist. She brought their lips together again as she walked backwards towards her cot, twisting to lay the brunette on her back. They kissed again until they ran out of breath and even then they pulled away long enough to gasp for air before their lips were fused together once more. They shifted against one another, moaning deep in their throats when the friction caused them immense pleasure. Hands snuck under shirts and thighs were placed in the perfect spot, making fireworks explode behind their eyelids. Quinn pulled away, desperately bring the air into her lungs, leaning her forehead into the crook of Rachel's neck. She pressed a kiss to the hot skin, smiling at the moan the rumbled under her lips. Two hands tangled themselves in her hair and she closed her eyes.

"You shouldn't be here Rachel," she whispered and the body under her's froze.

"Quinn . . ."

Quinn lifted up on her elbows and stared into glistening, confused brown eyes. She shook her head at the rejection swirling in those orbs; she needed to erase that immediately.

"I'm _so _happy that you're here, baby," she assured, brushing a strand of hair. "Please, believe me when I say that this ranks up there as one of the happiest moments of my life. I haven't stopped thinking of you since I was taken away."

"Then why – "

"You know why, Rachel," she said quietly and lifted herself up to sit against the wall. She sighed. "I told Santana not to let you come here."

Rachel sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. "She doesn't know that I'm here."

Quinn chuckled and shook her head. "Brittany. Of course."

There was a small silence and Rachel reached over to lace their fingers together. She scooted over until they sat shoulder to shoulder, their clasped hands resting in her lap. "Santana let me read your folder last night."

Quinn tensed next to her and squeezed her eyes shut.

"You read everything?"

Rachel nodded her head, her eyes focused in front of them. "Everything."

Quinn frowned and turned her face way. She's tried to be as open with Rachel as she could. She wanted to tell her everything before something like this were to happen; she didn't want Rachel to hear about her past from somebody else's mouth or writings. If you're supposed to be the 'bad guy,' the news crew or the Ministry will do everything in their power to make you seem like the most evil person in the country, but they would never give out reasons. Quinn always had a reason for doing everything that she did, and she didn't want Rachel to read these criminal reports and soil her view of her.

"Quinn – "

"Listen, what I did in my past – it in no way dictates how good I can be for you. I was a foolish kid and-and if I could take it all back I would in a – "

"I love you."

Quinn's eyes snapped open and she twisted her head around to meet honest brown eyes. She could feel the tears run down her cheeks; she's waited so long to hear those words she feared that she really was dreaming.

"Rach – "

"You saved my life," Rachel whispered to her. "I would've died in Azkaban if I didn't meet you. I would've died _after _Azkaban if you weren't there to carry and care for me. I owe you everything and I don't want you to think that I see you any differently just because of some pieces of paper that only focuses on your mistakes. I've made mistakes, too. Do you think I'm the girl, the mass murderer, that Britain thinks I am?"

"Merlin, no."

Rachel quirked a smile, running her finger across Quinn's knuckles.

"See? We're both just so misunderstood," she whispered teasingly and relished in the small, quiet giggle from next to her. She turned to press a kiss to the blonde's shoulder. "Your mistakes have made you who you are today; they will always be a part of you. And I do love you."

Quinn let out a breath she felt like she'd been holding in since they escaped and turned her head to lean it against Rachel's, their noses brushing pleasantly against each other. She smiled and closed her eyes.

"Rachel."

Rachel couldn't resist and leaned forward to barely peck her lips. "Yes?"

Quinn growled quietly in her throat and captured the brunette's lips in a full kiss, pushing her back down onto the mattress. Long, strong legs wrapped around her waist when she dropped her attention to her neck, leaving a mark that sated a primal possessiveness. It was only after a few more thorough kisses that Quinn was able to pull away, lifting up on her elbows so that she hovered over a flushed and panting Rachel.

She smiled softly.

"I love you, too."

Rachel gasped and there was a long, slow second of staring, and crying, and heart-bursting euphoria. Then she reached up and gripped Quinn's hair, crashing their lips together in a battle she was absolutely fine with losing. She wrapped an arm around Quinn's waist and spun them around so that she straddled her waist. She made quick work of the buttons on Quinn's shirt and moaned when cool hands slipped under her own, travelling upwards towards her breasts. Their lips parted long enough to whisper their words of love and Quinn couldn't remember why they had decided to wait so long to tell each other.

Not when she's sure she's never been happier.

Rachel pulled away with a moan when shy fingers ran their pads over her nipple, pinching lightly. She pressed her face into the crook of the blonde's neck, slipping so that she straddled Quinn's leg, her thigh pressing into a delicious heat. Quinn rocketed up beneath her and they both moaned, starting a sensual dance of undulating hips. Rachel leaned their foreheads back together, her half lidded eyes running over Quinn's exposed torso. It was nothing new; really, she's seen Quinn naked hundreds of times. But never like this. This made her throat run dry and entire body tremble.

This . . . this was _intimate._

"I – I've never done this before."

Everything stopped.

Quinn's eyes opened and she searched Rachel's face as the words cycled through her brain. Her hand slid down to rest on the brunette's hip.

"_Never?_" she breathed out.

Rachel shook her head and sat back on her calves, averting her eyes from the half naked form.

"There wasn't – I mean, no one's ever . . ." she cleared her throat, a blush coloring her cheeks and down her neck. "I've-Merlin, I've been in Azkaban since I was _eighteen_, Quinn."

Quinn sat up, her jaw slightly unhinged as she tried to catch Rachel's eyes. How could this have never crossed her mind?

"There's been no one else?" she whispered. That just couldn't be possible.

Rachel stared at her with such _innocent _eyes, it stole her breath away.

"There's only been you."

Quinn seemed to deflate and a tear trailed down her cheek. With trembling hands, she grabbed her shirt closed and Rachel felt her heart begin to break. She's covering herself. She . . . she's hiding herself from her.

"_Quinn – "_

The blonde shot forward and captured Rachel's lips in a firm kiss, cutting off the raw, uncertain voice. She cupped Rachel's cheek and pulled away, wiping the tears with the pad of her thumb.

"Rachel, you are . . . _perfect," _Quinn whispered with a sad smile. She shook her head. "I love you so, _so _much. And I want to – Merlin, I've never wanted to more . . . but I can't allow your first time to be some hurried romp on a cot in Puckerman's basement."

Rachel's eyes sparkled. "Oh."

"Yeah," Quinn whispered with a blush, reaching over to blindly grab a shirt and shorts out of the sack Brittany brought her. She fiddled with the soft fabric. "It will be romantic and – and _beautiful. _And in _our _bed."

Rachel gave a watery chuckle and reached out to grab one of Quinn's hands. "At Santana and Brittany's house?"

"Oh, hush," Quinn said with a laugh, knocking their heads together gently and pecking Rachel's lips. They stared at one another, the arousal nowhere near extinguished, but both knowing they wouldn't be able to control themselves if they continued. Quinn sighed. "It will be perfect. Just like you."

Rachel smiled and blushed again. "Like you, too."

Quinn rolled her eyes, but held her tongue. Now was not the time for self-degradation. Besides, it felt nice that Rachel thought that of her. She pecked Rachel's lips again before holding up the shirt with a small smirk. "Do I need to leave to change or can you control yourself?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest indignantly, still from her position straddling Quinn's lap. "I _do _have self-control, Quinn."

Quinn narrowed her eyes playfully and then shrugged the shirt off her shoulders, tossed it on the bag and shimmied under Rachel to remove the sweats Puck had lent. She tossed them over Rachel's shoulder and smirked at the weak whimper from Rachel as she faced the wall with closed eyes. She slipped on her own clothes, clothes that smelled delightfully like Rachel, and reached over to guide Rachel into a short, soft kiss. She pulled away to see dreamy brown orbs staring back at her.

Rachel let her gaze fall to Quinn's covered body and felt herself pout.

"So, if I had already had sex before this," she bit her lip and reached out to play with the hem of Quinn's shirt, "would you have kept going?"

Quinn chuckled.

"Maybe," she teased and Rachel pouted even more, groaning in desire and disappointment. Quinn lay back on the cot with a grin, pulling the brunette with her. "Come here, love."

Rachel fell into a familiar, comfortable, _missed _position on top of Quinn, their legs a tangled mess. In that one moment when her head landed on Quinn's shoulder, all of the exhaustion from the past few days hit her like a Firebolt. She buried her nose into the crook of Quinn's neck and found herself fighting to keep her eyes open. Quinn tightened her hold around her waist.

"Have you – have you never dated anyone before?" Quinn whispered. Rachel smiled against her neck at Quinn's bursting curiosity.

"One boyfriend and we hardly kissed. We only lasted a month," Rachel revealed in a small voice. Quinn bit her lip.

"You know me and Sam – "

"I figured," the brunette whispered softly. "Did it . . . was it special?"

Quinn closed her eyes and was silent until Rachel poked her in the hip. She shook her head.

"No. It was . . . sad and desperate and confusing," she answered and looked down the meet Rachel's tired eyes. "And it was only the one time."

Rachel smiled at that. She thought she'd feel jealous of Sam, that he got to touch and kiss Quinn before her, but she didn't. They were in a situation not unlike the situation she and Quinn found themselves in and she understood. They had only each other for _years; _she knew it was bound to get lonely and scary. Human connection, of any kind, was very important during these times.

If she didn't have Quinn . . . Merlin, she'd be dead.

She was sure of it.

Rachel leaned up and placed a kiss on the underside of Quinn's chin, watching those full lips lift up into a smile. "Then, when the time is right, I want it to be romantic and perfect and _special _for you, too."

Quinn chuckled and swooned at the conviction in Rachel's voice. She placed another kiss on Rachel's forehead, hugging her body flush to hers.

"I love you," she whispered into her hair. She didn't think she'd ever stop saying that. Rachel smiled, snuggling even closer.

"I love you, too," she mumbled tiredly, groaning when Quinn's giggle caused her to shake.

"Have you been sleeping?"

Rachel shook her head and sighed, letting her eyes fall closed. "I couldn't."

"Me neither," Quinn smiled sadly at the ceiling; closing her own eyes and letting her body relax under the weight of Rachel. "Rest with me?"

Rachel wanted to protest; she's hadn't seen Quinn in _days, _she didn't want to waste time with something as silly as sleep, but she had already drifted off before the words even made it out of her throat.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, so side note, I originally wanted to write more for this chapter, probably pushing the total pages to over 50. But I thought this was a good point to stop and leave some stuff for the next chapter that I will eventually get around to writing (college is fucking busy, man.) But for those of you who were wondering, I WILL FINISH THIS STORY. **

**This is my baby. It might take a while, but it will be finished. I just ask for your patience. I'll also be working on a couple of stories: for those of you wondering about the prequel to my little vampire universe, i will start working on that soon. I also have another story in mind of a traveling circus where Quinn is a lion-tamer and Rachel is a knife-thrower. That should be fun. They probably won't be out until after graduation...but something to look forward to, I suppose. **

**I hope this chapter didn't disappoint. It's been so long...I just don't want anyone to say "That's it? I waited eight months for that bullshit?" So if you feel that way, I have shamed you and I am sorry. **

**I love you guys. Your reviews make me smile and I look forward to them everyday. I don't really reply much, but please don't think that I'm being ungrateful. I'm just shy. Thank you. **

**Peace be your journey. **


End file.
